The Second Year
by Sopphires
Summary: Sequel to The First Year, read that first! Caly, Rose, Al and Scor are back for their second year at Hogwarts but what starts out as a harmless game soon turns into something much more sinister.
1. More Cousins

More Cousins

"_Bombarde!" the wall came crashing down. The exit was blocked. She dangled from mid air. Panic rose in her chest. Blood rushed to her head. Pain. She had fallen back to the floor. Her friends were dead. A flash of green light. Caly screamed. Mrs Malfoy was dead. She felt numb, green light etched across her eyelids. Couldn't think. She didn't know what was going on. BANG! Something broke and she could think. James. Why was he here? Oh god he was going to be killed. Wand. She grabbed it. She could see James standing there; terrified. _

"_Get down!" confused but he obeyed. _

"_Expelliarmus!"  
>"Avada Kedavra!" Explosion. Thrown into wall. James hit the rocks. Cauldron exploded. Mans screams. World black. Pain. Death. <em>

"Caly. Caly. Caly!" Caly opened her eyes aware of someone shaking her. She looked up and saw a face looming towards her out of the dark. She shrunk back, heart racing, until she realised that it was Rose. She felt her breathing slow down, her heart rate lessen. Rose was gazing at her with a very concerned look on her face.

"Are you alright?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Sure?"  
>"Yes." Rose stood and turned on her bedroom light. Caly sat looked around the bedroom blinking.<p>

"Where am I?" Rose raised her eye brows and rolled her eyes.  
>"Your at my house, remember." Caly frowned.<br>"Why?"  
>"Because Al went to his Great Aunt Petunia's funeral. He had to go stay at his Uncle Dudley's house so you came to stay with me." Caly frowned and rubbed her forehead.<br>"Oh yeah. Sorry." Rose looked at her, still concerned.  
>"Are you sure you're alright you look really pale." Caly nodded and got out of her bed, pushing her hair out of her face, well aware of the sweat on her palms.<br>"What is the time?"  
>"Oh it's nearly 9, mum's making breakfast." Caly nodded, again.<p>

The two of them proceeded downstairs together. Both still in their pyjamas and Rose still keeping an eye on Caly. Caly wasn't sure why she didn't want to tell Rose about her nightmares but she didn't. She was pretty sure that Rose knew that she had been having a nightmare, though. Caly was pretty sure that she screamed out loud.

"Morning girls." said Rose's mum, as they entered the kitchen. Hugo was sitting there wolfing down a full English breakfast. Ron was drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the clock on the wall. He had an empty plate before him that showed all the hallmarks of Hermione's mouth watering English breakfast.  
>"Hey mum."<br>"Hello Hermione." Caly had been instructed very early of Rose and Al's aunts and uncles by their first names because there would be far too many Mr and Mrs Weasley otherwise.  
>"I've told you, you can call me Aunt everybody does." Ron nodded.<br>"You're obviously being 'adopted' into Harry's family you might as well address us right."

"Sorry, sort of weird." Caly didn't mind them asking though, the first time Harry had asked her to call him Uncle Harry, she had sat there shocked and then realised that she didn't feel hurt or upset, she felt quite happy. That had been at the beginning of August after she had lived with them for nearly a month. It was weird them just opening up to her like that but she guessed that the entire family had realised their friendship was strong and had just welcomed it on it's way.

"Oh I'm sorry I don't want to push you."  
>"No it's okay…. Aunt Hermione." Rose smiled and Hugo paused his shovelling to give her the thumbs up.<p>

"Are you alright Caly you look pale." asked Aunt Hermione as she placed their breakfasts before them.  
>"Yeah just bad nights sleep that all." Uncle Ron, as Caly guessed she could call him, nodded sympathetically.<br>"Try being an auror, you can go days without a good night sleep. It's awful."  
>"Yes well I think Kingsley did warn you about that when you applied for the job. In fact I seem to remember his words were, 'if you don't like coffee, don't sign up.'" All three children laughed into their breakfasts and Caly was starting to feel better. It had just been a nightmare. Rose was still alive. That meant Al, James and Scor were too. It was just a nightmare. It was all in the past, it couldn't hurt her anymore.<p>

Pooft! Everyone in the room jumped and looked around for the source of the noise, both Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had their wands out, trained on the room.

"Oi down here." everyone relaxed when they realised the speaker was none other than Harry, his head sticking out of the fire place. "Can you remove the enchantment? I need to come through." Hermione, breathed a sigh of relief before waving her wand and Harry came spinning out of the fire place in a cloud of dust and ash. Caly blinked several times. She'd seen Uncle Harry travel by floo powder before but his head, just sitting in the fire place!

"You alright mate?" asked Ron.  
>"Yeah we're fine. It's just we made a rather shocking discovery recently."<br>"What?"  
>"You'll see. Do you mind if my family come over and Percy's?"<br>"No of course I don't mind but what is going on?"  
>"We have some new additions to out family." and then he left with wink and green flames.<p>

"What was that mum?" asked Rose.  
>"I don't know, Uncle Harry up to something again. Better get dressed, looks like we're having visitors."<p>

"C'mon we'll see Al again."  
>"Yeah 'cause we last saw him, what four days ago?" Rose rolled her eyes but the two of them disappeared up the stairs to get dressed.<p>

"So where do I go next?" Caly rubbed her brow and examined the chess board.  
>"Err C4. No not the Knight, the Pawn." Caly was trying to teach Rose how to beat her dad at Wizard Chess, the only thing he was better than her at.<br>"Okay."  
>"Rook to C4 and now you can go with your Knight and take my Rook."<br>"Okay."  
>"Perfect. Queen to E7."<br>"Ah not again." Rose had once more lost her Queen to Caly.  
>"And that is the next lesson, don't get distracted remember to focus on the whole board. It's best if you learn to play muggle pieces, they don't shout abuse at you, but seriously you get far too distracted by what's going on elsewhere now you've lost you're Queen I have a failsafe checkmate."<br>"What?"  
>"Go on make a move, any move." Rose deliberated and then moved her bishop so it could take Caly's other Rook on the next move. Caly moved her Queen two squares to the right.<br>"Check." Rose frowned and then moved it to the only free square, with a resigned sigh. Caly moved her Knight.  
>"Checkmate. I win again."<br>"Eugh." said Rose in frustration. "How the hell am I supposed to beat to you?"  
>"Well how about don't fall for all my tricks." Rose scowled at her.<br>"When is Al getting here? Then I can beat him at chess."  
>"I didn't know you had such a fragile ego." Rose throw a book at Caly but she ducked and it hit the Chudley Cannons poster behind her. The chaser shook her fist at Rose and then continued to soar around.<p>

"We should invite Scor around." said Rose after a moment of silence.  
>"What?"<br>"We should invite Scor, we haven't seen him since Al went to his Great Aunt's funeral."  
>"Which was four days ago." interjected Caly. Rose rolled her eyes and continued.<br>"And if Al's coming here we should invite him round, get together again." Caly nodded and smiled, she hadn't realised just how close the Weasley's were until now. They spent nearly all their time together out of school, whatever their age. It was why becoming part of their family was made so easy. If you spent all your time with them and they liked you, you were pretty much family anyway.  
>"Why don't we floo him?"<br>"I'll ask mum." said Rose, swinging herself off the chair as the front door went.

"ROSE!" Aunt Hermione yelled. "CALY! Uncle Percy is here."

"Urgh." said Rose as she set off down the stairs. Caly didn't know Percy that well but she had to admit he was definitely the dullest of all of Rose and Al's relatives. He had sat all four of them down on their first day of holidays and told them why they shouldn't meddle in things. She could see that Al and Rose were both suppressing the urge to roll their eyes, Scor was trying not to hit him and Caly was about to point out she didn't really have a choice as she had something that they wanted. It was weird because there was a really large age gap, _7 years_, between Molly who was 15 and Lucy who was 8. Al had explained that Lucy had been a complete surprise. There was also a large gap between Dom and Louis, 5 years, but that was because they hadn't thought they'd be able to have anymore children until Louis came along.

"Hello Uncle Percy." said Rose in a polite voice. "Did Uncle Harry explain what was going on to you?"  
>"No he didn't he just appeared in out fireplace and said we should go to yours. Something about family." Aunt Audrey came in next holding Lucy's hand. Caly felt a bit sorry for Lucy, as the youngest Weasley pretty much everyone treated her like a baby. Then Molly came in looking dishevelled and unhappy about being dragged out of bed at such an early hour, it was nearly quarter to ten. However she hugged both of them and promptly yawned widely.<p>

"What the hell is going on?"  
>"No idea." said Caly as she sat in the living room, Rose had gone off the ask her mum about inviting Scor over. "Uncle Harry's <em>head<em> just turned up in the fireplace and then his whole body came through. Then he said he'd made a shocking discovery and he was bringing his family over and could yours come to and then he was gone again."  
>"Yep that sounds like, wait did you call him Uncle Harry?" Caly shifted on the sofa."Yeah they said I could."<br>"Oh yeah, sorry, it's too early." she said and then yawned widely again. "That's good though. I think Scor is doing too, am I right?"  
>"I think so."<br>"Ah I'd love to see the expression on Uncle Ron's face when he calls him that." They both burst out laughing at the idea. Rose came in and saw them in hysterics. She opened her mouth to ask them but then changed her mind.

"Well I asked her."  
>"And?"<br>"And I didn't even have to finish the question."  
>"Your point being Rose?"<br>"Mum knew exactly what I wanted and just said yes and threw the floo power at me. Am I really that predictable?"  
>"Your ego really is that fragile." Molly dissolved into hysterics in the arm chair and Rose scowled at her.<br>"He's flooing over soon, though."  
>"Oh good." said Caly. "When's Al getting here?"<br>"I don't know I'm not telepathic."  
>"That's a shocking discovery."<br>"You've been spending too much time with Scorpius."  
>"How is that possible when I've <em>lived<em> with you and Al."  
>"She has a point." added Molly. Rose scowled at her again.<br>"How come no one ever sides with me?"  
>"Because you're always wrong?" suggested Caly.<p>

The 15 minutes they had to wait for Scor to arrive was passed with good natured bantering. Hugo and Lucy came through and they soon found a common ground they could all talk on; insulting Rose. Hugo took great pleasure in ribbing his sister. However Lucy tried to stay on everyone's good side which was a pretty hard thing to do when it pretty much became a free for all at the end.

"Rose you should be ashamed of chess of your chess abilities." said Caly. Everyone smirked, Uncle Ron beating Rose at chess was always a sore spot for her. "With the intelligence levels you supposedly boast, you should be better. Scor is better than you."  
>"Why thank you Caly, coming from you, that's high praise." Everyone jumped and twisted round in there seats.<br>"Scor!" Caly jumped out and hugged her friend.  
>"Hey. Ah Rosie's gone off me." Rose rolled her eyes and got up and hugged him too. He waved his greetings to the rest. "Hello."<br>"Hey.""So what exactly going on?"  
>"No one knows. We have for Uncle Harry to get here and reveal his mystery."<br>"I see and until then."  
>"I suggest we go back to our previous game." Rose was just about to protest when the doorbell went.<br>"No need." they all got to their feet eager to see what exactly what was going on. Aunt Hermione opened the front door, Uncle Ron had headed off to work earlier.

"Harry, hey." she said. He was standing on her doorstep a grin on his face. "What is going on?"  
>"You'll see." She looked at Ginny who just rolled her eyes. He stepped aside to reveal his sons and daughter walking up the path. Al broke into a sprint when he saw the three of them and practically flattened them. James just slid into the house and Lily skipped in to say hello to Hugo. But behind them looking around them warily was another family of four. The man was thick set, muscular, like a boxer. He had blonde hair that flopped down over his eyes. The woman was normal height and thin, she had brown hair done up in a bun, and with them were two children, there was a brown haired boy, was thick set about the age of ten and a skinny, short blonde girl of about. Everything fell into place inside Caly's mind.<p>

"So let me get this straight." said Scor. "You have _more _cousins."  
>"Yes." said Al. "Though technically they aren't cousins, Uncle Dudley is actually my Dad's cousin. I think they're my second cousins."<br>"Yes but _more cousins_! Just when I thought your family couldn't get any bigger."  
>"Well you made it bigger." said Rose.<br>"Touché."  
>"I bet you figured it out didn't you?" said Al turning to Caly.<br>"Not until I saw them, then everything was painfully obvious."  
>"Wait painfully obvious?" said Scor and Rose together.<br>"They're magical." said Al  
>"The boy is going to be going to Hogwarts next year and the girl two years two years after that so Uncle Harry brought him here to introduce him to Hugo as well as Lily and then invited Lucy to meet the girl. Well I must say, it must be nice to get much more notice."<br>"What?"  
>"I was only informed of what I was the summer before I started Hogwarts."<br>"Really?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Oh, I didn't know."  
>"One thing I don't get I thought your dad hated them."<br>"No well you see after the war he went to see if they were settling back into their new lives okay, I think. Then Dudley who had been acting less and less hostile towards Dad asked for a chance to turn the page, he asked if he could have a second chance. Both for him and his mum. Great Aunt Petunia divorced Vernon, see. Then they became friends. He's not got on great with the rest of the Weasley's though, but now that his children are wizards…" Al trailed off and Caly nodded.  
>"What are their names?" asked Scor who seemed to have finally gotten over the fact that Al had more cousins.<br>"Billy and Cassey."  
>"We should probably go down and meet them." said Rose. The four of them and snuck up to Rose's room to let the adults talk and introduce the new cousins to the ones their own age.<br>"Yeah." said Scor  
>"They're pretty cool." said Al. "We go stay with them for a little while each summer and they're not irritating or anything."<br>"Well that's good."

"Caly are you alright?" Caly had been resting her head in hands but now she looked up.  
>"I'm fine."<br>"Really, so screaming in your sleep every night is completely normal then?"  
>"Caly doesn't scream in her sleep." said Al.<br>"Yes she does, well she does here."  
>"Well that's odd." said Al before turning a penetrating stare on her to match the ones Rose and Scor were giving her.<br>"It's nothing. I'm just having nightmares."  
>"About?"<br>"What do you think?" Scor flinched, and Rose looked down. Al rubbed his nose.  
>"How come you've just started having them?"<br>"I don't know. Maybe they'll pass."  
>"I think tonight you should come back to my house." Caly nodded, too tired to argue.<br>"Come on let's meet the new cousins." said Rose.  
>"This won't be awkward at all." muttered Scor to Caly as they went down stairs.<p>

They were sitting in the kitchen and the atmosphere was one that was clearly awkward. The adults were dinking tea and attempting small talk and the children were just sitting quietly. Molly was leaning against the counter actually talking to James. Everyone looked up when they walked in.

"Ah you've decided to join us."  
>"Sorry dad." said Al.<p>

"No problem, I think some introductions are probably in order, however." he nodded to himself. "Okay so this is my cousin Dudley but I think Uncle Dudley is better, then this is his wife Veronica and his children Billy and Cassey." They all smiled and waved. "You know Al, so this is Rose, she's Hermione's eldest child." Rose waved back at them. "And then the other two are not technically related, well actually remember my godson?"  
>"Teddy, his hair changed colour."<br>"Yeah, that's his cousin, Scorpius." Scorpius smiled. "And this is Caly, she's living with me."  
>"I see." said Dudley. Caly smiled and waved shyly at him, unsure about her reception. An awkward silence descended upon them. Suddenly Hugo started making hooting noises, rather like an owl. Everyone looked at him.<br>"What I'm bored?" he said.  
>"Well what do you want to do?" asked Hermione.<br>"Quidditch!" Harry rolled his.  
>"Well that might be quite a good induction into the magical world."<br>"Yes!" cried just about all the children whilst Caly noticed Billy and Cassey mouthing 'Quidditch?' at each other. Lucy led the charge out into the garden and Caly fell back to walk with James who wouldn't be playing. Billy and Cassey stayed close to their parents who seemed a little wary this sudden change in topic. Caly had to admit that from experience this was probably better than what happened to her, at least they hadn't had a giant man coming to inform her that actually she wouldn't be going to one school but to another and then taken shopping in a hidden street.

"James."  
>"Yes."<br>"Why don't you play Quidditch?" the two were leaning against the wall watching Harry divide the teams up. James fidgeted for a moment and then decided to tell her.  
>"When I was three everyone said I was too young to fly a real broomstick."<br>"Obviously." James rolled his eyes.  
>"But I thought I was."<br>"Okay why do I not like where I think this is going." James smirked.  
>"So I nicked one and then I flew it or tried to." Caly rolled her eyes and sighed. "I lost control of the broom and crashed into a tree. I got trapped in the top branches. Everyone thought I had run away from home but no one thought I was there because they thought I had gone on foot. I thought I was going to die."<br>"What happened?"  
>"Al, he noticed the broom cupboard door was open and that my toy was there. He gave it to mum, she was at home because she was pregnant with Lily. They looked in the trees and they found me. I was in St Mungos for a while. I um I'm too scared really." James looked away. Caly could see that he was really humiliated that he had admitted such a weakness. She patted his arm.<p>

"It's okay we're all scared of something, you have a very good reason for being scared. I'm irrationally scared of heights."  
>"Really?"<br>"Yeah, I don't feel so bad in the stands but the thought of getting onto a broomstick." she shuddered and James nodded.  
>"Look can you not mention that to Lily, she doesn't know and it would only worry her." Caly nodded.<br>"Of course." There was a moments pause.

"So your cousins what are they like?"  
>"I don't know really we've never had anything in common with them before, I mean we thought they were muggles and we had to pretend we were muggles too. Only Uncle Dudley knew what we really were."<br>"Did you just find out now?"  
>"Yeah it was weird they were really upset about their Grandma dying, of course, and then I dunno it just sort of happened. Apparently there have been some weird things like objects moving without them touching but no one's really paid any attention to it." Caly nodded, feeling a little jealous that that hadn't happened to her. "Is that what happened to you?"<br>"Pardon?"  
>"No one noticed." Caly laughed dryly.<br>"Oh no James. I was the freak, still am come to think of it." James turned to face her sharply.  
>"You're not a freak."<br>"I can't do magic James."  
>"You saved my life."<br>"That was odd. I don't know how I did it."  
>"You still did."<br>"Fine but in the muggle world I was a freak."  
>"What did they do?" Caly shook her head.<br>"I don't want to talk about it."  
>"But I-"<br>"I'm going to go say hello to your cousins." She walked off leaving James with a sense he had pried a little too far.

"It's insane isn't it." Both Billy and Cassey jumped. They turned around and saw Caly the one that lived with Uncle Harry. "You get used to it though."  
>"What?" asked Billy<br>"I'm muggle born too. I thought I was just ordinary and then one day this man turned up, Hagrid, and he told me I was a witch and that I was going to go to Hogwarts and suddenly there's magic and flying and nothings real anymore."  
>"Do you get used to it?"<br>"Yeah, I got used to it really quickly. You just sort of accept it. I mean I was sort thrown in head first, it won't be like that for you." Both the cousins nodded and they returned to watching the game in the air. She could see Aunt Hermione and Uncle Percy talking to Dudley and Veronica.

"What's Hogwarts like?"  
>"Err." said Caly, trying to work out whether the usual rules applied. At the PotterWeasley's there were some rules about talking about Hogwarts and the wizarding world; you never told them about the war. They got a talk when they got their Hogwarts letters and you had to keep it a surprise, no drawing maps to help them find their way, no telling them about vanishing steps and so on.  
>"It's pretty cool, although you might want to talk to someone else about Hogwarts."<br>"Why?"  
>"Last year, my year wouldn't exactly fit your definition of normal." said Caly, watching Scor pass to Aunt Ginny and then receive another one and slot it in the hoop.<p>

"How does this game work?"  
>"Well it's sort of complicated, for a start they aren't playing properly they need two more players each."<br>"Yeah but when they have that they have a full team." James had joined them. Caly fell silent and listened to James' very detailed explanation of the rules of Quidditch. Both Billy and Cassey seemed awestruck by the world of Quidditch, and just magic it seemed, James had branched off at one point and had started talking about pranks he had pulled and other such things.

"Caly." she looked round. Aunt Hermione was tapping her on the shoulder.  
>"Yes."<br>"Could you come talk to Dudley and Veronica, I've been explaining what happened last year." Caly shivered.  
>"Why do I have to talk to him?"<br>"Because I need you to assure him Hogwarts is safe." Caly nodded and walked over to them. Uncle Percy stood there at decided unease, his red hair streaked with premature greys. He always looked tired. Dudley and Veronica stood there, hand in hand, looking slightly pale at what was going on in the sky. Percy gave her a wan smile when she came over which she returned. The other two turned sharply to her.

"Well?"  
>"Well what?"<br>"Is it safe?"  
>"About as safe as any other school. Look what happened last year, that stuff doesn't happen, normally."<br>"The last time stuff like that happened was 20 years ago." said Uncle Percy.  
>"And then 50 years before that." said Aunt Hermione.<br>"See, besides. One of the twins died. They can't join or do whatever the hell they wanted now. Look at this way, you don't have to worry about drugs or knife crime. You don't have to worry about them crossing the road to come home. The worst that can happen is an accident in class or a fall of a broomstick and then you'll just go to the hospital wing. Nothing dangerous happens in Hogwarts, really."

* * *

><p><strong><em>Okay I just wanted to apologise for the long time it has taken me to upload this. I suffered pretty badly from writers block and then it sort of fell second to my other fanfiction and if you haven't you really need to read the first one 'The First Year'. I'm not sure how frequently I'm going to be able to update, I'm almost back at school, I'll just have to wait and see, but enjoy the story!<br>Sopphires._**


	2. Birthdays and Back to School

Birthday and Back to School

After reassuring that nothing bad would happen to their children in the Wizarding world out of their sight the Dursley's opened up a lot more. At the end of the day they left with an invitation to Caly's birthday at the Burrow and the promise from Harry that someone would be round to give them a partial connection to the floo network. They had gotten on well with the children. Billy was pretty adventurous and had already attempted to fly a broomstick, against his parents wishes. Cassey was slightly more shy and preferred to hang quietly round with her brother, or look over Lucy's shoulder at the on goings.

At the end of the day she packed up her things and headed back to the Potters. The Potters lived at number 12 Grimuld Place, in London. The house, according to Al had once belonged to Uncle Harry's godfather and used to be dark and dank and a reminder of all that was wrong with the wizarding world. Now, however, that it belonged to Harry and that it had a whole hoard of Weasley's rampaging through it, the house had quite a different air. It was warm and homely, the whole place was renovated and painted bright colours. Uncle Harry had said the only reason he hadn't gotten another house was because he was too lazy and this was private, very private what with the still active fidelius charm on it. You could only see it if the secret keeper, Harry, told you were it was.

Apparently Harry had worked with the house elf Kreacher, Kreacher was a little weird and really old, Caly was pretty sure he shouldn't still be alive but he was, to take down or at least cover up all the remnants of the old Black family. The screaming portrait of his godfathers mother was put under a permanent silencing charm and the curtains were stuck shut and boarded up. The old house elf heads that had lined the stairs had been taken down. The family tree had been painted over, all the chandeliers and door handles which had had serpents on them had been replaced.

Lily's room was a frankly alarming shade of pink. It damaged Caly's eyes to be in there too long, her brothers said the same, so she spent most of her time in Al's room which was a neutral red. Also Lily, whilst nice, was incredibly hyperactive. Caly had actually never met anyone with quite so much energy and who could ask the same questions over and over. Lily had a fixation with Hogwarts, she couldn't wait to go and she was incredibly depressed that she wasn't going this year. Lily was determined that she would be a Gryffindor and a chaser like her mother and Caly didn't bother saying anything to disagree because you were likely to have your head ripped off. She wasn't half as calm as Al. In fact Al was by far the most serene person in the house and Caly was still trying to work out were that came from, everyone seemed to be very hyperactive; James and Lily and have nasty tempers; Harry, Ginny, Lily. Okay Harry's temper wasn't that bad he'd just curse fluently if he walked into something of James'.

"Caly."  
>"Yeah."<br>"It's your birthday soon."  
>"I know."<br>"What do you want?"  
>"Err, nothing."<br>"What? I can't get you nothing."  
>"Look I'm not really bothered."<br>"Oh well no one knows what to buy you so they're all bugging me."  
>"You all seemed to manage well enough at Christmas."<br>"Yeah but we can't get you the same things again."  
>"Look Al in all honesty I'm not keen on my birthday." Al rolled on to his stomach to look at her properly.<br>"Why?"  
>"I'd prefer not to talk about it."<br>"Why?"  
>"I just don't like talking about it." Caly continued to 'read' her copy of A New History of Magic but Al could see that her eyes weren't moving.<br>"What happened on your birthday, I mean I know that you didn't celebrate it but dad didn't celebrate his and he loves it now." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"It's not that."<br>"Then tell me, come on you can trust me Caly besides I won't stop bugging you till you do and you don't have anywhere else to go, Lily's room is too pink."  
>"I could to James' room that's red isn't it."<br>"Actually it used to be blue but then he got sorted into Gryffindor and then he decided he shouldn't have a blue room, he should have a red one so he got dad to repaint it." Caly raised her eyebrows.  
>"Talk about patriot."<br>"Yeah and scrape but we're getting off topic." Caly sighed. She wasn't comfortable discussing her past with people but then again she did live with Al and his family had practically said that she was one of them, maybe it was time she tried her own methods.

"Okay, fine. I don't like my birthday because my parents ditched me on my birthday." Al looked at her and realised she was deadly serious.  
>"Your parents left you on your birthday?" he couldn't keep the incredulous tone out of his voice and couldn't help but feel bad for her.<br>"Yeah well it was my first birthday so I couldn't complain."  
>"That's horrible." Caly scowled.<br>"I don't want pity."  
>"It's not pity, it's sympathy."<br>"Aren't they the same thing?"  
>"Not quite the same." Caly frowned.<br>"I'm not going to debate that with you or else we'll end up like Rose and Scor."  
>"Yeah we do not need that. So that's why you don't talk about it. You don't want to be reminded of that?" he said as if he wanted to clarify it once and for all.<br>"I don't want to have to think about whatever happened that day to make my parents abandon me. I don't want to know what happened but I think it's my fault." she returned her gaze to her book and Al was left searching for the right words to say, damn it was Caly who he'd call in these situations.

"You know." he said hesitantly. "We don't have to celebrate your birthday, not if you really don't want to." Caly's eyes flickered up to his for half a second before returning to the page but Al had seen the faintest glimmer of hope.  
>"Really?" she was talking to the book pages, she couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice.<br>"Yeah, I know for a fact no ones bought you anything so it's not like that will be a problem. I could talk to dad, if you wanted?" Caly bit her lip, she was undecided. Part of her wanted to try and conquer this weird fear of her own birthday but another part of her wanted to take Al's option.  
>"Could you?" she was talking in barely more than a whisper.<br>"Yeah maybe we could just have dinner with Scor and Rose's families instead, no celebrations just like normal when we meet up with my family. Dad could invite the Dursley's I know he wants them involved more in the magical world and probably my grandparents because we won't be going to the Burrow but it's just dinner, no presents, no cake, nothing. How does that sound?" Caly nodded. She had her knees drawn right up to her chest now, she wasn't in the relaxed position where the book balanced on them anymore. Her fingers gripped the book so hard that they were turning red. Al had never seen her this vulnerable. Not even when Scor was in the hospital wing, she'd always been quite put together. Now she was incredibly pale and she had a far away lost look about her that really didn't suit her. He frowned, he reckoned the only time that she had ever been like this was immediately after Scor had died, when she had thought he was dead.

"Do you want me to get someone; James?" he knew his older brother was a complete insensitive prick but he actually liked Caly and he hadn't pranked her once, well harmfully at least. James had also seen her when she was like this last and comforted her. She shook her head.  
>"Okay, I won't be long." he didn't think that she wanted a hug so he squeezed her shoulder very tightly.<p>

"Dad." Harry looked up to see Al hovering in the entrance to his study. Harry spun round on his chair.  
>"Hey Al, did you finally get a list of gifts out of Caly?"<br>"No, but I sort of wanted to talk to you about that." Harry nodded and gestured to one of his squishy chairs.  
>"Go on."<br>"Well see, I've just been talking to Caly and she told me that she really doesn't want to celebrate her birthday." Harry nodded, he wasn't surprised. Caly had not shown any enthusiasm towards her upcoming birthday party in the Burrow that had been genuine. She had put on a good show, like she hadn't wanted to let them down but her heart definitely hadn't been in it.

"Yeah she was… Dad you have to promise you won't tell."  
>"Of course I won't."<br>"Okay well the day her parents left her at her home, thing, was on her birthday." Harry nodded that made sense. His parents had been murdered on Halloween and when he had first had Teddy he wouldn't take him trick or treating, Andromeda had had to do that, eventually accompanied by the growing cousins. But when he'd had his own children he'd realised that this was something he had to get over so one year he'd gone the whole hog; James had been three, Al two and Lily was a newborn, and dressed up along with his kids. He'd gotten over it. Maybe this had to be done gently, though. It seemed Al was already ahead of him.

"I suggested that we just have dinner, no celebrations but Scor, Rose and their families come over and the Dursley's, because they should be integrated and my grandparents because we won't be going to theirs." Harry raised his eyebrows.  
>"That is an excellent idea. I'll put the word out should I, is she happy with that?"<br>"Yeah."  
>"Good, best to keep her comfortable."<br>"Dad is she going to be okay? I mean she seems really afraid and it's her birthday. She thinks that she did something terrible."  
>"I doubt she did she wasn't very old."<br>"Yeah but…" Al trailed off and Harry nodded. It was like survivors guilt.  
>"Well I'll send out the word, you keep her happy." Al nodded and jumped up.<br>"Thanks dad."  
>"No problem, son." he gave him a tight hug.<p>

The days until Caly's birthday flew by and though she became slightly more withdrawn, she seemed buoyed by the fact no one was talking about her birthday anymore. In those days the owls had arrived with their Hogwarts letters and they had made a trip to Diagon Alley. Once again they had been accompanied by Billy and Cassey Dursley the former thoroughly enjoying the magical high street but with the latter shying away from anything too magical, like the goblins in Gringotts. Caly had to agree with Al's view of his cousins they were okay. She had talked to Cassey a bit and come to the conclusion she was just shy and slightly scared of magic. Caly however reassured that it was all real and all safe and normal. Cassey struck her as a bit of a worrier so she would have broken the deadlock with a game of wizards chess but that was too violent. In the end Rose had brought her old children's story book. The Tales of Beadle the Bard and read them to her. Rose had a really old copy that had been her parents but Al had this entirely moving picture version that she found fascinating.

When Caly woke up on the 27th of August for the first time she didn't feel a rush of guilt and self pity. This was almost immediately followed by some self loathing, she hated self pity. Instead she woke and groaned because her retinas were bombarded with a shade of pink that was far too bright to be seen at any time of the day let alone this morning. She groaned and drew the covers over her head.

"Come on Caly get up!" Lily was up already and moving around the room. "Dad said that breakfast is ready. Mum made pancakes after James begged for half an hour and switched the cereal with this stuff that makes you sick it back up in perfect condition." Caly stuck her head out of the covers.  
>"That is disgusting."<br>"I know, but pancakes! Though if you're not down soon they'll all be gone. James and dad would eat them all they could." Caly nodded and sat up. "I'll be down in a sec."  
>"Okay bye!" Lily left in flash of her red plait.<p>

Caly got slowly out of her bed. It took Caly a lot longer than a sec to get dressed because her clothes had all been muddled up, or at least she thought they had. She was still quite tired and she wasn't exactly thinking straight because she had just remembered it was her birthday. Eventually she was dressed and she had decided that she either couldn't remember where she'd put her clothes last night, or James had come in and messed them up. Though the latter seemed like quite a big invasion of privacy she wouldn't rule it out.

Eventually she got downstairs and found that there were in fact some of Aunt Ginny's pancakes left. There was a plate sitting next to Al's and she eyed it suspiciously, she'd long since learnt never to trust anything that had been left out long enough for James to get a hold of it.

"Morning Caly."  
>"Morning."<br>"Sleep well?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"So you haven't had anymore nightmares?" asked Al as he bit enthusiastically into a pancake that his mother had just set in front of him. Caly shook her head.  
>"No, I think they were a one off thing."<br>"Well that's good." said Uncle Harry. "Now stop eyeing the pancake, I doubt James has done anything to it. He tends to worship them." Caly had to agree with that, and since nothing happened when she cut into them she took a large bite out of the top one.

BANG!

Caly jumped. Glitter exploded everywhere, covering Caly. She choked on the stuff in her mouth.  
>"Anapneo." said Harry to clear her airway as she wiped the stuff furiously from her eyes.<br>"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!"  
>"Uh oh." said Al. "You've really done it now, Caly never looses her temper." James swallowed looking a little unsettled.<br>"What is this?" her voice had changed from shouting to deadly calm.  
>"Glitter."<br>"Glitter and why did you put glitter in my pancakes?"  
>"Fwuny." mumbled James.<br>"I beg your pardon."  
>"Funny."<br>"I see." James gulped again. Everyone else could barely contain their hysterics. "Do you know what else is funny?" asked Caly. James shook his head. "Me killing you." James' eyes went wide. Then he leapt up from his seat and ran towards the door. Caly leapt up too. "I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!" she yelled.

Still covered in glitter, she raced him to the exit and successfully beat him there. James took off around the table top chased by Caly, who was leaving a trail of glitter. She was still yelling that she was going to kill him and James had never looked so freaked out in his life. For the rest of the Potter family the sight was simply too much, they collapsed onto the table face in their hands or the plates in hysterics. Caly managed to tackle James on his fifth circuit of the table the two of them went flying and skidding towards the fireplace. She pinned him down with ease, James did next to no physical exercise and Caly was much stronger than she looked.

"Argh, Caly! Woah what's happened to you?" James looked up at Caly and found that she was staring at him from her glitter covered face.  
>"You Potter, I wanted to eat those pancakes!"<br>"What? This is about pancakes?"  
>"You worship them, don't blame me, living in a house with all of you has obviously driven me crazy."<br>"Yes but still." Caly glared at him then she started to grin. James relaxed, then realised that she was smiling in a way that reminded him of Fred or Colin before they were about to pulling a prank. "Wait what are you going to do?"  
>"I am going to get up."<br>"Excellent."  
>"I haven't finished."<br>"Oh."  
>"Then you are going to sit in my chair and I will sit in yours. Then I will eat your pancakes."<br>"What?" said James flabbergasted. "No absolutely not, no deal."  
>"What you want to stay here?" James realised he couldn't push her off and groaned.<br>"Fine."  
>"Good."<p>

Caly let James up and sat down in his chair. James followed sulkily and sank down into Caly's glitter covered chair ignoring, or at least trying to, his family's laughter at his situation. Al leant across the table and gave her a high five and Aunt Ginny congratulated her on successfully learning how to control her son. Caly just laughed at all of this and considered that maybe today she might not care that it was her birthday.

After she showered and changed again Caly went about her day as normal. Well as normal as possible when James has decided that you are the sole object of his pranks. Caly had had a whoopee cushion placed on every seat she sat on. Things tended to never be what they seemed either, her chess pieces turned out to be James' in disguise and roundly abused her and tried to throw away the game, her cutlery at lunch turned into rubber chickens and doves and her food once again betrayed her by turning her words into farts and belches.

All in all Caly had completely forgotten that it was her birthday, she was far too busy avoiding James. However her luck was poor, even though she was hiding in Al's room. She had a sneaking suspicion that the brothers might have teamed up against her today, but seeing as she couldn't prove it there was no point getting annoyed and it was probably down to Al that most of the pranks were generally harmless and she could have a bit of a laugh about it afterwards with Al and Lily.

A knock came at the door at half six. Caly was in the living room talking to Lily whilst Aunt Ginny and Kreacher cooked dinner in the kitchen. Kreacher was so old that he wasn't allowed to do most of the house work or cooking but he wanted to do some. He also went to Mr and Mrs Weasley's house and helped out there because they were getting old too. Caly had just come back down after getting changed, again, for the fifth time that day. James and Al came in talking, or arguing about their Quidditch teams, and flopped down on the other sofa. Caly gave James a suspicious look. She was waiting for the knock at the door because it meant James would tone down the pranks, probably.

Knock, knock. Then the mutter of voices from the front step. Caly sprung to her feet and charged to the door. Flinging it open she saw Scor, his aunt, Teddy, Rose and her family and the Dursleys, Mr and Mrs Weasley were flooing in directly. Caly flung her arms around Scor, as he was closest.

"Oh thank god." she said as she hugged Rose. "James has been driving me insane. He's made me the sole object of all his pranks." Scor and Rose winced.  
>"Ouch." they said together. "Yeah. Come in, everyone." she stepped back and let everyone into the house. Everyone she noticed simply wished her hello and moved on, the adults into the kitchen and the children into the sitting room.<p>

"Why hello there." said Al from his place on the sofa. He didn't bother getting up merely giving them a lazy wave. Billy walked over to Lily and Cassey followed him. Lily greeted her kindly and then began to talk to Billy very fast about a subject that they obviously been discussing before.  
>"So James I hear you've been pranking Caly." James shrank a little into his seat.<br>"Hey look on the bright side Caly." said Al. "At least James likes you." Caly tilted her head.  
>"What?"<br>"James likes you, his pranks on you are painless." Caly raised her eyebrows.  
>"I guess I should be flattered and thankful but honestly if he liked me wouldn't he not prank me at all?"<br>"I don't think he knows how to do that."  
>"Excuse me I am right here." All four of them looked at James for a minute then turned back to each other without comment. James folded his arms and huffed about being ignored.<p>

Caly was a little nervous at dinner. She was sure that her near perfect day, though she had been pranked by James no one had mentioned her birthday, was about to be ruined. She was sure, however, that at dinner someone would slip up and mention something about it and suddenly the day would be dreadful.

Yet when she sat down, it seemed that she was destined to be wrong. James had, on threat of his chess set being locked up, not set up any pranks and instead settled for trying to be the centre of attention with Teddy. The rest of the conversations were fairly normal; Mr Weasley who was simply fascinated by all things muggle was talking to Dudley, Mrs Weasley, Andromeda, Aunt Hermione and Veronica were talking about Hogwarts and Billy, Cassey, Lily and Hugo were hanging on their every word. Uncle Harry and Ron were talking about something from the office and listening half in to everyone else' conversations. Caly sat with Rose, Scor and Al at the end of the table. The four of them talked about everything from Quidditch to chess to Hogwarts. The four of them had plans of it being a much quieter year. Much quieter.

Everyone left around eight and after that Caly had time to be pranked three more times and beat James at chess twice, even with mutinous pieces. Caly went and washed again and this time changed into her pyjamas, preparing to go to bed. She'd noticed that Lily's head was drooping on her shoulder and Lily got very grouchy very quickly if she didn't sleep well. So she simply went back downstairs to wish them all goodnight. By now she was pretty sure that her theory that James, and probably Al, were pranking her to make her forget her birthday, she had to admit she was both grateful and a little annoyed. There had to be other less messy ways to do it but it was effective.

"Goodnight." she said standing in the doorway of the sitting room. Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, James and Al all looked up, Lily was already upstairs.  
>"Night." they said and turned back to whatever they were doing. Caly was half way up the stairs when she turned back and ran back down.<br>"Thank you." four pairs of eyes fixed on hers and there was a silent agreement and understanding between them all.

"But I want to go now!" Lily was crying as she hung to Aunt Ginny's arm. Al who was walking next to Caly rolled his eyes.  
>"This happens every year." he muttered.<br>"Not long to go Lils, just a year." promised Uncle Harry. James laughed from up front.  
>"A year till you'll be sorted into Slytherin, I can see the celebrations." there were more eye rolls.<br>"James shut up." as Lily cried harder. "Lily come on." added Caly "You spent the whole summer telling me you were going to be in Gryffindor are you really going to believe your brother given his track record?" Lily frowned at her. "I mean he wasn't right about Al." Lily seemed to calm down a bit and both adults shot her a grateful look.

"Crisis averted." muttered Uncle Harry to her and Al. "Right James through the barrier." James aimed his trunk, broke into a run and was gone. "Al, Caly you next." Al looked at her and started to run at it, Caly just after him. The brick wall loomed before them Caly saw Al's heels vanish as she collided with nothing.

The scarlet steam engine appeared in front of her and Caly broke into grin. She was going back. Harry came through right behind, closely followed by the Dursleys who had obviously just turned up, with the purpose of seeing it before next year and all looked white faced after just running at the wall, and then Lily and Ginny. The ten of them began to meander down the platform looking for Rose and Scor. James broke off after a moment when he saw the dreamy twins and Caly caught a glimpse of their father, tall with brown hair and eyes and didn't return.

Caly and Al found a compartment and together put their trunks away and Al's owl. Caly let Fawkes loose most of the time, she had a cage but at the moment he was flying free.

"Al! Caly!" the two of them looked up from where they were comforting Lily to see the blonde head of Scor bobbing along with Andromeda not far behind.  
>"Hey." he said when he reached them. "Much easier to get on to the platform than last year, Caly?" Caly laughed and swatted his head.<br>"Yeah and a lot less painful." they all laughed.  
>"Have you seen Rose?" asked Al.<br>"No but she'll be along soon, come on help me with my trunk."

There were five minutes to go when a panting Rose turned up with her father and brother. Her dad started ranting on about muggle drivers to Al's dad while Rose just shook her head and pointed to the trunk.

"Just help me get that on." when they put on her trunk they were going to stay on the train but Uncle Harry beckoned them back off.

"I know I don't have much time." he said glancing at the clock.  
>"You don't say." muttered Scor. Harry ignored him.<br>"But I wanted to talk to the four of you. I know that what you got involved in last year none of you had a choice and had the roles been reversed I would have done exactly the same but I want you to be careful." They all frowned. "Your excursion last year has opened my eyes to the fact that all is not as well as it might have once appeared. Now out of all of the family you four are the most prominent."  
>"Hang on." began Caly.<br>"Yes you're part of the family Caly, deal with it in your own time." the train whistle had just blown. "I am saying that you must take caution, all of you. I gave you that cloak for a reason and now I see no reason to take it away." and with that he hurried them onto the train. They had just slammed the door shut when it juddered into movement, leaning out of the window they waved at the assembled relatives, Harry's face still alight with concern.

"What the hell?" said Al when they were shut up in their compartment. Rose looked between Scor and Caly both of whom seemed to be in deep thought.  
>"Any words of wisdom?" she asked.<br>"It's quite simple." said Scor and Caly nodded. "It's a warning. He's trying to warn us that there are still lot's of bad wizards out there and they are more focused on us. I also think he's trying to warn us that the one who escaped."  
>"Gerald."<br>"Thank you. The one who escaped is after us, mainly Caly, I'm guessing." There was a general pause.

"Well that was a lovely way to send us off, I really must thank dad." said Al. The other three looked at him like he was mad. "Look there's no point worrying is there. I mean, yeah there's this crazy guy out to get us but at the same time we know what he looks like, the school knows what he looks like. What are the chances he's going to get us at Hogwarts, how is he going to get in to the castle?" Caly looked at Rose who looked at Scor who was staring at Al as if he was seeing him in a whole new light.  
>"You're right."<br>"There's no need to sound so shocked."  
>"I beg to differ." interjected Caly.<br>"I must second Caly's statement." said Rose a small smile playing at her lips and soon all four of them were laughing.

Halfway through their journey and surprisingly they hadn't been disturbed, yet. Rose and Scor were enjoying the fact they could use magic by trying out spells from their new textbooks. Caly and Al were talking about sports their heads resting against the vibrating windows. Caly was trying in vain to explain why there were so many different sports in the muggle world. Al kept shaking his head and asking what the point of them was and how you remembered all those different rules.

"Hey." he said as his head turned towards the window. "There's Fawkes." Caly peered out and saw that there was, indeed, her phoenix flying along by the train. She threw open the window and he soared in. Caly stroked his feathers staring intently at him. Something was off in her head. There was something about Fawkes that was wrong for her.

"Oh!" she cried. She jumped to her feet staring at Fawkes tears filling her eyes.  
>"Caly?" asked Al. She flung a hand up over her eyes and ran from the room crying. "Err?" asked Al turning to the other two. Rose shook her head but got to her feet to follow.<br>"Wait." Scor was gazing at Fawkes. "Let me go."

Caly ran down the carriage way of the train. She dodged the people by instinct not caring if she bumped into them, far more concerned about her own stupidity. How could she not have thought about that. It was all her fault. All her fault.

"Caly?" she had run straight into Molly. She frowned down at the crying girl. "Caly what's wrong?" Caly shook her head and kept running, she ran straight into the bathroom and locked the door. Molly blinked, confused.

"Molly!" the new Hufflepuff prefect turned, confused, to see Scor running towards her. "Molly have you seen Caly?"  
>"Yeah what's wrong with her?"<br>"Not now, where is she?"  
>"Bathroom." Scor ran around her towards them. "Hang on you can't go in there." Scor just ignored her and began to rap on the first door.<br>"Caly open the door!"  
>"Err Scor."<br>"Caly open this door right now! Open the door!"  
>"Scor…"<br>"Caly if you don't open it right now I'll open it for you."  
>"Scor!"<br>"1...2..." The door flew open and an indignant face appeared in the crack. Scor turned bright red as he saw, to his horror, that it was not Caly but Fawn a Hufflepuff in their year. One of the Hufflepuff's they liked. Molly dropped her face to her hand.

"Oh merlin, oh merlin. I am so sorry." Fawn scowled at him and slammed the door. He moved onto the other one. Molly lifted her head up and looked at him as he pointed his wand at the door.  
>"Alohomora." and went in as Fawn came out looking incredibly bemused and Molly just shook her head.<p>

Caly was sat with her knees drawn up to her chest she was crying but very quietly and gently. "Right." said Scor as he sat down next to her. "This had better be good because I have just made a complete ass of myself." Caly drew a deep breath and hiccoughed.  
>"It's my fault."<br>"Yeah I was expecting to here that." Scor looked at her looking deeply pained. Caly knew that look and knew that he knew exactly what she was thinking. In her spare moments she wondered how he did that but right now that wasn't her chief concern.

"I'm so sorry."  
>"For what Caly?" he looked at her and for once he looked angry, angry at her. "How long is it going to take before you realise that we don't blame you, I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. So you could've summoned Fawkes!" he threw his hands in the air. "Who cares? What good would that have done? One well placed spell and your feathery friend is back to a chick." Caly choked at his bluntness.<br>"But if-"  
>"No. I have had enough of this. This ends right now. Yes they were after <em>your <em>wand, and yes they kidnapped my mother because I was _your _friend and yes I'm sad and completely miserable that my mother died but I don't blame you. I never blamed you because you did everything you could to save her." Caly sat there quietly, she'd stopped crying.

"It's not enough." she said quietly. "So you don't blame me, doesn't stop me feeling guilty."  
>"Well it should be."<br>"How do you do it? You hurt but you talk normally."  
>"Because when I was in the hospital wing and I was just letting everything come down around me, I just gave up. I blamed me. Guilt eats you up and then Teddy spoke to me, he told me, showed me I had so much to live for, so much my mother wanted me to live for. That moving on was what she wanted because moving on is living." He ran a hand through his hair. "You just come to terms with it. I had a lot of time to think last year." Caly nodded and hastily scrubbed her face with the back of her hand.<br>"So I'm being stupid."  
>"Yeah." she giggled and Scor joined in. "Come on let's get out of here."<p>

They opened the door and came face to face with Molly and Fawn. Both of them were looking at them curiously.

"Err." said Scor turning red.  
>"Caly are you alright?"<br>"I think so yeah." Molly frowned but brushed it aside.  
>"And you stay out of the girls bathrooms." Scor turned redder and pulled Caly off along the train, leaving the Hufflepuffs behind.<p>

"Caly are you alright?"  
>"Yeah."<br>"Sure?"  
>"Yep."<br>"We all got invitations to Slughorns compartment for lunch, we should leave now."  
>"Me too?"<br>"Yeah."  
>"Eurgh great just what we wanted, more time with old Sluggy."<br>"Come on he's not that bad."  
>"Only because you're his absolute <em>favourite.<em>"

The rest of the train journey went quickly. They knew exactly how to handle Slughorns get together by now for it not to be so awkward, though she noticed that Molly was watching her and Scor more closely throughout it. When it was over they went back to their compartment to change into their robes and less than five minutes later the train pulled to a stop and they arrived at the dark platform of Hogsmeade Station.


	3. New Game, Old Problems

New Game, Old Problems

Caly straightened her robes as she hopped of the train and waited for Scor, Rose and Al. She wasn't at all surprised that the other three stayed very close to her. They weren't holding her but Rose and Al almost pinned her in at the side and Scor stayed right behind her so that she wouldn't get separated again. When they got to the gates she saw James with Colin, Lorcan and Lysander he looked at her and then winked with a small smile. She looked up at the fleet of carriages that would lead her safely up to school and froze.

In the front of all of them were horses, winged horses. She blinked and frowned, hadn't Lily told her that the carriages were pulled by invisible horses? They were skeletal and eerie but at the same time they were… magnificent, they were beautiful. But why were they there?

"They're thestrals." It was Scor. He was standing just behind her also looking at the winged horse. Al and Rose were in the doorway of a carriage.  
>"I don't get it I thought they supposed to be pulled by invisible things?" Scor smiled painfully.<br>"They are, to most people."  
>"What?"<br>"Thestrals can only be seen by who have seen death." Caly felt sick and sorry at the same time. It was a repulsive thought, every time you looked at the creature you were reminded of who you had lost.  
>"But you haven't-"<br>"Caly I didn't _see_ someone die I _did_ die. I think that trumps it." He looked vaguely repulsed by them. Caly on the other hand walked cautiously up to the creature and extended her hand out to it. It was weird to touch. It was soft and it immediately nuzzled her arm. She felt a surge of warmth and she smiled.  
>"Come on let's go." she followed Scor into the carriage and as the topic moved onto other things she began to feel pity. She'd seen the expression on Scor's face when he'd seen them. To only be able to see them if you've seen or experienced death. She shuddered no wonder he wasn't keen on them, but they seemed nice enough.<p>

The carriages were warm and the journey up to the castle was quite quick. She leant out the window when she neared it and saw the glow of the orange windows and broke into a grin that matched the one on Scor's face, like her Scor found the castle very much like home. It was the reason he too had gone to Kings Cross, it was the place he'd left his father and started the life where he'd made friends, had fun, changed what people thought of Malfoy. Really Scor had had a pretty good first year if his mother hadn't have died.

They hurried up the steps into the entrance hall and straight into great hall. The air was filled with noise and laughter and they were all practically pushed into the great hall by the full force of the students. When she sat down at the Gryffindor table James leant across from where he was with Colin and said  
>"Good to see you could make it on time!" Caly rolled her eyes and flicked him off. Turning her attention back to her friends she noticed that both Rose and Scor were looking at the high table as the first years came in led by Professor Longbottom.<p>

The sorting was dull. She watched two people be sorted; the first to Ravenclaw and the second to Slytherin then she got bored. She looked up at the high table and saw that there was a new teacher, no two new teachers. She looked at them. The one sitting at the end of the table was a man. He had plain black robes on and sleek black hair that was combed back. He seemed engrossed in sorting, if his fixated expression was anything to go by. The other new teacher was a women, she was sitting between Professor's Slughorn and Sprout. She was dressed in elegant robes that were a royal blue and looked like satin. Her hair was done up in a tight bun and her mouth was in a fine line to rival McGonagall. She wasn't watching the sorting but instead was looking around the hall, as if to observe each student individually. Caly reckoned that she was the new Transfiguration professor and if looks were anything to go by she was just as deadly as the last.

"Welcome." said Professor McGonagall as she got to her feet. "To Hogwarts. There are the standard notices and I also have a special announcement." Everyone looked up at that. "However all that can wait till after the feast." The feast appeared and whilst Caly was delighted for food she wanted to know what the special announcement was.

"What is the point of that?" she said through a mouthful of roast potato.  
>"Point of what?" asked Al<br>"That short speech." The other three shrugged.  
>"Dunno, tradition probably."<br>"Right but seriously there is no point." Scor shrugged.  
>"Take it up with Professor Longbottom or <em>Uncle Neville.<em>" Al and Rose rolled their eyes.  
>"Why can't you get over the fact that we knew him?"<br>"We can get over the fact you knew him but we can't get over the fact you call him Uncle and you never told us." Caly said as she energetically cut a piece of beef on her plate.  
>"Yeah we could seriously have used that piece of information to our advantage, like you did." Scor jabbed his fork at Al and Rose as he made his point, causing them to move out of the way as a carrot went flying off the end.<br>"Oh shut up." Al said airily, brushing gravy off his robes. "You should be grateful he could have chewed me out but he was so sympathetic and we got the cloak out of it."  
>"Keep it down Al." Rose glance furtively up and down the table to make sure no one had over heard them.<br>"What no one's listening and they won't know why it's special."  
>"He's right Rose."<br>"Still I don't like shouting about it."  
>"We're not shouting about it, we're talking." countered Scor immediately.<br>"And they're off." said Caly.  
>"Yeah and this time they didn't even start the argument."<br>"Hoggers." the two of them broke down into laughter whilst Scor and Rose continued to snipe at each other, ignoring Al and Caly.

After pudding, in which Caly had had a delicious treacle tart and her and Al had stole bits of Scor's fudge cake when he wasn't paying attention, Professor McGonagall stood up again.  
>"Let's hope she says something this time." muttered Caly. Her friends snorted.<p>

"Now that you have eaten, and hopefully enjoyed, your dinner I have some notices. Firstly I must remind you that all products from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes are banned and that the use of magic in the corridor is not allowed. Also remember that the Dark Forest is more commonly known as the Forbidden Forest for a reason." this was greeted with a lot of appreciative chuckles and snorts. "A sign up sheet for those who wish to play for the house Quidditch team will be posted on the house notice boards and the Captains must speak to their heads to arrange trials within the first two weeks." Scor, Al and Rose all looked at each other excited by the mere mention of house Quidditch and Caly rolled her eyes, there was no way they were not getting back on the team after last year.

"This year we are greeting two new members of staff. As our new Arithmancy Professor, Professor Crasson." the hall applauded and the man stood and greeted them with a small smile and nod. "And to teach Transfiguration, Professor Liann." Professor Liann got up and her thin mouth stretched completely out into a full smile as the students welcomed her with applause. "Finally we have decided, this year to play a… a game." Every student looked up at her, their expressions varying from bemused to interested.

"Game?" muttered Scor curiously. Al shrugged, Rose raised her eyebrows and Caly just tilted her head back to McGonagall to suggest that they might get more out of listening to her than speculating.

"Now the teachers and I have realised that we don't support the extra curricular activities except Quidditch. We want to encourage you all to do some more… intellectually stimulating challenges. This year will just be a trial run so we will select four competitors from each house and together they will have to solve different puzzles. Now these puzzles will be on anything, from the muggle and wizarding world, it won't matter what age you are or how much you've learnt. It matters what you know." There was a faint murmuring again and the Ravenclaw's, especially, looked quite excited.  
>"The winner will be awarded 200 house points." this, more than anything, caused a stir. 200 points! That could easily decide who won the house cup.<p>

"And now I think you all had better go off to bed, lessons begin tomorrow." There was a pause then everyone realised that was there cue for dismissal, the feast last year had been a little different. The first years flocked over to their prefects; Sally and Jeff, Caly vaguely recognised them and she followed with her friends behind.

"So what do you think?" asked Scor the moment they got out of the Hall.  
>"Don't know sounds a bit weird." said Al. "I mean won't the Ravenclaws have a huge advantage?"<br>"Not necessarily, I mean Rose and Scor are top of our year."  
>"With you two."<br>"And you figured out everything last year, Caly." Caly shrugged that off.  
>"It hardly matters though, it sounded like the selection will be random."<br>"Won't the older students have an advantage."  
>"Did you go deaf Al? I think she addressed that point."<br>"Not very well." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"It's about your ability to solve puzzles, logic, which has nothing to do with your ability to levitate things or transfigure things."<br>"Oh I see."  
>"Finally. Please tell me the rest of you got that."<br>"Of course, we're not like Al." Al scowled.  
>"Just you wait till Defence Against the Dark Arts."<br>"Only because he's your un biological uncle." Al whacked Caly on the back of her head.

The next day Caly was once again woken up by Rose trampling around tossing stuff out of her trunk, muttering about things. Rolling her eyes she opened the curtains and sat up. Rose couldn't move around quietly, it just seemed impossible. It would be funny if it wasn't so damn early. The only real benefit was that Caly never had to worry about waking up late, Rose had a strange body alarm clock that seemed to only work in school.

They met Scor and Al in the common room, Al's hair looking very messy and Scor looking a little too pale. The four of them headed down to the Great Hall together, talking about what lessons they might have and what they thought of the new game.

"So can you play the game and Quidditch?" asked Rose as she bit into a piece of toast.  
>"I think so." said Scor as he pushed some eggs around his plate, watching Professor Longbottom as he began to move towards the Gryffindor table to hand out timetables. "I mean she didn't say there would be a clash."<br>"Imagine if you solved the final problem in mid air." said Caly miming dramatically solving something and then falling. The four of them burst out laughing. Giggling she waved at some of the other second years that she spotted.

"Al, Rose."  
>"Yeah."<br>"You know your parents were friends with some of the other second years parents."  
>"Yeah."<br>"How come you aren't friends with them?" Al frowned, Rose pulled a thoughtful face and Scor turned his head, interested.  
>"Well, I guess because I met you and Scor on the train. I knew they were going to be there and I was quite excited to see them, well not Martin really, but Declan, Finn and Kyle, yeah but we didn't see them, we ran into you two and we enjoyed ourselves." He looked at Rose who was nodding. "Then I wasn't put in their dorm you know, and I just I'm friends with them but I wasn't close, you know. I just always wanted to be with you." Scor opened his mouth to say something else but Professor Longbottom appeared at their shoulders to give out their timetables.<p>

Caly noticed that this year they more lessons with the Slytherins than last year and less with the Hufflepuffs.

"Yes! Less McMillan."  
>"But we have to see the <em>Slytherins.<em>"  
>"What's the big deal with the Slytherins? I mean apart from being Slytherins what have they done? I don't recall getting any trouble from them last year."<br>"She's right actually." said Scor as he examined the timetable.  
>"Maybe that's 'cause we just didn't see them." said Rose, stifling a yawn as she reached for a sip of pumpkin juice.<p>

Caly looked back down at her time table.

_Monday:  
><em>_Transfiguration-Break-DADA-Lunch-HoM_

_Tuesday:  
><em>_Charms-Break-Potions-Lunch-Herbology_

_Wednesday:  
><em>_DADA-Break-Charms-Lunch-Free-Dinner-Astronomy_

_Thursday:  
><em>_Free-Break-HoM-Lunch-Herbology_

_Friday:  
><em>_Potions-Break-Transfiguration-Lunch-Free-Dinner-Astronomy_

_Transfiguration: Gryffindor&Hufflepuff_

_DADA: Gryffindor&Slytherin_

_HoM: Gryffindor&Ravenclaw_

_Charms: Gryffindor&Ravenclaw_

_Potions: Gryffindor&Slytherin_

_Herbology: Gryffindor&Hufflepuff_

_Astronomy: Gryffindor&Slyttherin _

"We actually still have quite a lot of lessons with the Hufflepuffs."  
>"Oh way to put a dampener on my mood, Caly." said Scor snarkily.<br>"Sorry."  
>"What do we have now?" said Al who hadn't bothered to look at his timetable, knowing that Caly and Rose would have memorised it instantly.<br>"Transfiguration." said Rose promptly.  
>"With the Hufflepuffs." added Caly.<br>"Oh shut up, we like most of them." pointed out Al, who was attempting to flatten his hair.  
>"We like some of them." corrected Caly. "I still can't get over the fact no one told me Peter's father is like the Minister for Magic!"<br>"Sorry, just never occurred to us."  
>"Obviously."<br>"Let's go, we can meet the new teacher." Caly shuddered ever so slightly and noticed Rose do the same.

Settling into her seat in Transfiguration she ignored McMillan and Smith, who were the main Hufflepuffs she didn't like. Both of them seemed to have grown over the summer and they were leering over at the four of them from their desks. Caly didn't really understand what they had between them. There was no house rivalry, the rest of their houses mixed well except for them. It seemed that McMillan and had condemned Scor for his father and Caly, Rose, Al and Smith had taken sides on their war.

Professor Liann stood in front their class. She surveyed them for half a minute then went around her desk and pulled out a box of quills.  
>"I believe that for your exams you had to turn these into goblets?" there was no answer, just a general round of nodding. "You will answer my question verbally, please."<br>"Yes Professor." responded the class, Caly didn't think it wise to point out that she had done something different.  
>"Very good, now just as a tester, to size you all up and make sure you haven't forgotten everything I want you to transform these into goblets, off you go." Caly went pale, she'd never tried anything that hard before. The quill in front of her was eagle feather. It was old and worn, probably it had been left in a classroom, most likely a Transfiguration one, and the teacher had picked it up and kept it for practice.<p>

"Hem hem." Caly looked up and saw that Professor Liann was standing at the corner of her desk, staring down at her impatiently. Looking around she noticed she was the only person that hadn't made an attempt yet, she had been to busy diving it's history.  
>"Please concentrate on your work, attempt the spell."<br>"Yes Professor." Caly picked up her wand cleared her throat, with a similar 'hem hem' and repeated the wand movement and incantation. Unsurprisingly nothing happened. Scor, who had an elegant goblet on the desk next to her, looked at her sympathetically. Her professor raised an eyebrow.

"Remarkable, may I ask how you achieved an 'E' in your exam, I'd say that you got let off by the teacher but seeing as he tried to kill you I don't think that's the case." Caly flinched ever so slightly at her blunt statement.  
>"Maybe she should try again." It was Scor, he was looking up at Liann with the stony unreadable expression that Caly had only seen him wear around his father.<p>

"I did not ask for your opinion Mr Malfoy." Caly became aware of the fact that most of the class had stopped whatever they were doing now and were watching the conversation. Professor Liann picked up his goblet. "Hmm, the object reflects the arrogance within." Scor flushed, whilst it was true that the goblet had some jewels and such, making it look expensive, he wasn't arrogant. Not at all. In fact Rose's cup had the same _and_ more fancy patterns. Though she had got a better mark in Transfiguration.

"Despite the fact that he spoke out of turn, he has a valid point, one go is not enough to make a judgement. Another go." she said gesturing to the quill.  
>"Just remember what Hardingly told you." whispered Scor.<br>"Mr Malfoy, I won't ask you again!"  
>"Sorry Professor Liann." she frowned at him and turned back to Caly.<br>"Go on." Caly frowned and thought of what he told her. She did it and the result was the same; nothing. "I see, would you care to answer my earlier question." Caly found herself going red. She knew how she'd got an E in Transfiguration. She'd taken an easier version of the exam.

"Miss Hautly?"  
>"I did a different exam."<br>"I beg your pardon."  
>"He changed the exam for me, I only had to change a matchstick into needle. I didn't change it all the way, it went silver and pointy but was still made of wood." Professor Liann raised both her eyebrows at that.<br>"So you can't even change a matchstick into a needle."  
>"No Professor." she could hear McMillan and Smith snickering at the back of the classroom at her humiliation. "But." she spoke up. "I spoke to Professor McGonagall about this last year because I suppressed my own ability to do magic. I have some sort powerful mental ability, I can push someone out of my mind if they're performing legilamency. Professor McGonagall said she was going to do some research, I guess she hasn't found anything yet." Professor Liann looked slightly thrown by the girl sitting in front of her.<br>"You mean the Headmistress is aware that you are practically unable to do magic?"  
>"Yes, I thought she was going to throw me out of Hogwarts when she first talked to me about it but I'm definitely magical." It was Professor Liann's turn to look embarrassed.<br>"I'm sorry." she said. "Professor McGonagall did not inform me of your…situation." Caly's face was still burning and Professor Liann's had become a tight mask again. She made a sort of funny jerky head movement and then walked away. Caly widened her eyes at her friends who were all looking at her sympathetically, or slightly bemused.

It was a relief to get out of the classroom for break. McMillan and Smith had been snickering at her and throwing bits of parchment at her and Scor when Professor Liann wasn't looking. At break she stormed out into the courtyard their laughter ringing in her ears.

"Eurgh!" she said as she flopped down onto a bench. "I hate McMillan and Smith is just as bad as him now." Scor nodded and brushed some parchment that was still in the back of his hair onto the floor.  
>"I know!"<br>"But anyway why didn't it work?"  
>"What?"<br>"Your method. What Professor Hardingly told you." Caly frowned and rubbed her forehead.  
>"Maybe because Professor Hardingly told it to me." the other three looked at her. "Well think about it, all I needed was a shot of confidence, a bit of feel good. But now I can't think of that without linking it to everything they did. I guess it's not as effective anymore." she heaved a huge sigh. "It seems he's effectively ruined all my attempts to do magic."<br>"Sorry why are we referring to 'he'? Weren't there two of them?" Everyone gave Al incredulous looks. Then they looked at each other.  
>"Let's see." said Scor.<br>"For one there's only one left." said Caly.  
>"And if they'd both given her the advice that would have given the whole game away." finished off Rose.<br>"Okay, okay." said Al. "You win."

Defence Against the Dark Arts was their first lesson with the Slytherins in which they were all awake. Well Rose always paid attention in History of Magic but no one else did. There was a little knot of Slytherins gathered by the door. They turned when they approached and for a moment Scorpius' eyes met theirs. He gave them a stiff nod which they did not return before turning to Caly, Al and Rose.

"What was that?" asked Al immediately.  
>"Nothing, just some old… acquaintances of my parents." Caly raised in her eyebrows.<br>"Acquaintances?"  
>"My parents went to school with some of theirs. They came over occasionally, my father was 'preparing' me for Slytherin.""Did you get along?" he shrugged.<br>"Sort of, I mean we had out differences but they're not really bad people. I mean they aren't evil, death eaters or anything. But they, they might call a muggle born a you know what." he trailed off uncomfortably.  
>"So who are they?"<br>"What? Right, well, that boy, the tall one is Timothy Nott. The girl on his right with blue eyes is Andrea Zabini. The slightly chubby girl is Natalie Pucey. The shortest one is Sheridan Bletchley and the last girl with blonde hair is Monica Vaisy." Caly surveyed them and mentally made a note of their names.  
>"I see." said Al.<p>

Professor Longbottom opened the classroom door before the conversation could progress any further. Ushering them all inside in his over cheerful manner they sat at their desks silent, the Slytherins on one side and the Gryffindors on the other. There was an odd sort of tension in the classroom as if they were waiting for the first strike to come from the other side. Professor Longbottom, however, seemed oblivious to the tensions of his class and immediately began waffling away about redcaps.

"Malfoy!" the call came when they were making their way down to lunch. All four of them turned and saw the five Slytherins Scor had pointed out earlier making their way towards them.  
>"So." said Sheridan when they stopped in front of him.<br>"Yes?" replied Scor just as curtly.  
>"You moved out of Malfoy Manor and in with, what was it the blood traitor Black?" Scor's wand was out in second.<br>"You take that back!" There was a round of laughter.  
>"Now Scorpius let's keep calm." Monica Vaisy spoke with a high pitched, irritating voice. "We wouldn't want any jinxes to go amiss." Al's arm cautiously reached out and began to push his wand arm down. Scor seemed to struggle with himself before his self control won out, his right hand fell to his side and he asked coolly.<br>"Well if you asked me here just to insult my family I think I'll take my leave."  
>"Oh we're not done yet." said Nott. "We want to know if you're friends know everything there is to know about you?" Scor turned pale.<br>"Oh is that a no?" asked Andrea Zabini with a giggle. There was a muscle jumping in his jaw now.  
>"I saw the error of my ways, which is more than can be said for you." Natalie Pucey slid out from behind Sheridan Bletchley.<br>"But you don't want it to get out, it might ruin this little hero gig you've got going on. It does look so sweet on you." Caly looked at Al and Rose who glanced back at her, completely confused.  
>"Let's go." she said. "Come on Scor, they're not worth it." she tried to bundle him down the stairs but Bletchley's last comment stopped them from going too far.<br>"We're worth a lot more than you, you little mud blood, though from what I hear of your magical abilities you may as way be a muggle."

Caly had no idea what happened. She didn't know what the word mudblood meant, as far she was aware it wasn't a word, but when Bletchley said it Scor wrenched himself from her grasp and spun on the spot. To her surprise Al and Rose did the same. All three of them had their wands out and had hexed the five Slytherins before they could even move their hands towards their own wands. They stood their panting and Scor took a bounding leap up to where Sheridan Bletchley lay. Standing on his fingertips he hissed.

"Don't ever call her a mudblood again."

"Rose? Al? Caly? What's going on?" they heard footsteps and felt their hearts sink. Now they were in trouble.


	4. Hagrid's Advice

Hagrid's Advice

All of them turned slowly and saw, coming towards them at a slow pace, Hagrid. Caly's mind was still reeling, but a part of her was glad to see him, she hadn't seen Hagrid in a while. Last year when Al and Rose went to visit him she had stayed back in the castle with Scor for fear that things would get a little to awkward if he went. That and the fact she had never had any great inclination to go, sure he was nice but she wasn't attached to him like Al and Rose were. But now seeing him she studied her friends reactions and noted that Al and Rose definitely looked relieved. Maybe he'd let them off easier or something. Scor, however, looked even more scared now that they'd been found by a Professor.

"What's going on?" he repeated climbing to the top of the stairs and looking down. "Did you do this?"  
>"We had to." said Al. Hagrid raised his bushy brow at that<br>"No seriously Hagrid we did, Bletchley called Caly a… a you know what." Rose faltered at the end of her sentence. His eyebrows went even higher at that.  
>"And he'd insulted Andromeda before that."<br>"I see."  
>"We tried to walk away we really did, but he was goading Scor." Hagrid cast his beetle black eyes onto Scor who shrank away from his gaze.<br>"Alright off you go."  
>"What?"<br>"On second thoughts, go to me hut. I'll meet you there."  
>"Thanks Hagrid." The four of them turned and scurried off. Two floors down they relaxed their pace.<p>

"Is Hagrid a giant?" asked Scor immediately, glancing round once to check the coast was clear. Rose raised her eyebrows.  
>"Honestly have ever seen a giant like that?"<br>"Rose." said Al warningly and Caly had to agree that Scor didn't really look like he was up to arguing with her. The angry flush had died down and he now looked incredibly pale and shaken.  
>"He's half giant but he's completely harmless."<br>"Except he does have a penchant for dangerous pets." said Al with a quirked smile. Scor nodded.  
>"But he's harmless."<br>"Oh yeah, he even trained his half brother Grawp, who is a proper giant, though rather small, to be completely docile." Scor paled even further.  
>"There's a giant in Hogwarts?"<br>"No I think Grawp tends to the animals in the forest and stuff. I don't really know, he lives in a cave somewhere. I think the staff think he'd scare us so they keep him out of the way."  
>"Oh you don't say." muttered Scor, running a hand through his hair.<br>"Wait so giants are tame?" said Caly finally breaking into the conversation.  
>"<em>NO<em>!" said Scor really loudly.  
>"Woah, okay."<br>"Sorry. I mean giants are renowned for being vicious, the reason there are none left in Britain is because they either joined, Voldermort or they killed each other off. It's in a giants nature to kill things." Caly's eyebrows shot downwards.  
>"But I thought you said he was tame." Scor shrugged.<br>"I've never heard of a tame giant."  
>"Grawp is tame, or docile at the least. I've met him." Rose said this so casually that Caly blinked several times. Caly looked at Al for confirmation."I haven't, mum didn't want me to go but Aunt Hermione visits a lot."<br>"Are there many giants around?"  
>"No, like Scor said there are none in Britain and the ones abroad are becoming extinct. A combination of the two wars, being hunted by aurors and killing each other off hasn't done wonders for their population count."<br>"Is that a bad thing?" Scor looked at her incredulously.  
>"You've got to be kidding me? Just about everyone is celebrating the fact that there are less giants. Same way as people would celebrate the fact that there are less vampires or whatever."<br>"Wait vampires are real? People actually suck each others blood and stuff?" There was an audible sigh from her three wizarding friends.  
>"Hey this is not my fault." Scor rolled his eyes and shared a look with Rose, both glad that they were steering clear of the topic of mudblood, and then opened his mouth to explain as much as he could about Vampires.<p>

Hagrid's hut was small but all the furniture was huge. The hut contained everything Hagrid needed in one room, a giant bed, a dresser and a kitchen area with a stove, sink and table with chairs. However all of these furnishings were, well, giant sized. For Caly especially it was strange, the whole house was like a computer manipulation or something. Or said a voice in the back of her head; magic. The four of them perched on some of his chairs and waited for Hagrid to come back. They had been greeted at the door by a very excitable puppy. The puppy leapt up at all of them and licked their faces and whilst Al and Rose seemed to be expecting this and greeted the dog cheerfully, Scor pushed the dog away with a look of disgust and wiped his face quickly.

"Down Fang!" said Hagrid when he entered the hut. "Sorry 'bout 'im. He's lot like Fang." Caly frowned along with Scor.  
>"I thought he was Fang."<br>"Nah, that's Fang III. Fang was a crazy ol' dog but Fang II, right little placid beast." Caly arched an eyebrow at that statement. The words 'placid' and 'beast' didn't go together at all, besides it was a boarhound.  
>"Okay." said Scor who seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her.<p>

"Right then." said Hagrid seriously, looking at all four of them. "I wanna hear what happened. I want the full story. I want it from you." Caly blinked. Why did Hagrid want her to tell the story?  
>"Well we just left Defence Against the Dark Arts when we heard Bletchley call Scor's name."<br>"First name or last name?" Caly blinked, did this matter?"Err, last name. He called out 'Malfoy', so we all stopped and turned around and there was him, Vaisy, Nott, Pucey and Zabini."  
>"Ok so it was pretty much even." What? She thought to herself but kept going.<br>"Erm, yeah, right. Then he said, Bletchley, said he'd heard that Scor had moved out of Malfoy Manor and in with 'the blood traitor Black', I don't know what that means, but Scor pulled out his wand and they all laughed." Hagrid nodded."Then Vaisy said Scorpius should calm down, no keep calm."  
>"So she said his first name."<br>"Yeah and then she said that she 'didn't want any jinxes to go amiss'. Al put his hand on Scor's arm and was trying to get him to lower the wand." she breathed. "Then he, Scor, sort of won self control. He lowered his wand." Hagrid raised his eyebrows at that but made no comment. "And then said if they were going to insult his family he was going to leave. And then, then it all kind of got weird. Nott said that they hadn't just asked him there to insult his family and that they wanted to know if we knew everything about him." Scor was losing colour again. "He, Scor, didn't say anything. So then Zabini said that they'd take that as a no and started giggling and Scor said he'd seen the error of his ways which was more than could be said for them." she quoted her best friend hesitantly, she kept glancing his way, he had his head in his hands now, his figure was slumped, the picture of a defeated person. "Then Pucey said, she said, um, that he wouldn't want it getting out because it would ruin the hero image that he had going on. She said it looked good on him, or something. Then I said let's go, I said they weren't worth it and I tried to bundle him down the stairs, I got him to turn around but then Bletchley said that they were worth a lot more than me because I was a 'mudblood' and I should be a muggle from what they've heard of my magical ability." she swallowed, glancing at her friends again. "Then they just, I don't know, all of them like snapped and they pulled out there wands and hexed all five of them. It was pretty impressive actually. Then finally Scor stepped on Bletchley's fingers and told him never to call me a 'mudblood' again and then you turned up but I don't understand." she finished in one breath. Hagrid held up a hand to stem her flow of questions.

"What do you have next?"  
>"History of Magic." said Rose.<br>"Alright, I think I'll talk to you all now then but for gods sake don't tell your parents and such that I'm letting you miss class." He put the kettle on and bustled around bringing out cakes. Caly glanced at Rose and Al who nodded and mouthed.

'Don't worry, it's edible. Just.' Scor still had his head buried in his hands however and didn't look up to eat their replacement lunch. Hagrid frowned.

"Now I don't know what's going on but I suggest that you drink the tea. It's extra strong. Good for your nerves." Scor peeked up and took a swig. He seemed to like whatever he tasted because he took another longer one. Hagrid smiled.  
>"Now then, let's sort this out. Caly this might be quite hard for you." Caly frowned at Hagrid.<br>"What are you talking about?"  
>"Because blood traitor, mudblood and the context in which the word muggle is used are all old pure blood sayings.""I'm sorry I'm so lost." Hagrid ran a hand through his hair. Then he glanced at all four of them and a smile cracked his lips.<p>

"Hagrid?" asked Al. "Hagrid, what is it?"  
>"Nothin' I'm just rememberin' when your dad Scorpius called Rosie's mum a mudblood in their second year." Scor groaned and hid his head in his hands. Whereas Rose just frowned.<br>"This is a happy memory because?"  
>"'Cause your dad tried to curse him, I mean it backfired, his wand was broken and he ended up coughing up slugs so Harry and Hermione brought him but I remember that those two didn't know what it meant. And Ron, between coughing up slugs, explained. 'S a foul a thing to call someone, Caly. Mudblood is a really awful name for some one whose muggle born." Caly remembered Mr Malfoy's sneering face on the platform. "Means dirty blood, 'cause there are some wizards who think they're better because they're pure blood, all magic, like Scorpius."<br>"But Scorpius doesn't think that."  
>"I know. Now most people know it's codswallop, most people are half blood or less, like Rose and Al but some people they just don't learn and they'll always give you a hard time."<br>"Because they think muggles are inferior, because they can't do magic."  
>"Exactly."<br>"And blood traitor is that someone who is pure blood that associates with muggles."  
>"Pretty much, or muggle borns, I think. Most of this blood purity nonsense died out after the second war but the remnants of the old families cling to what they had." Caly nodded and tried to push down the bad memories. She was tough. She could cope with this.<p>

"Hagrid why are we here?"  
>"Well because if what you say is true, and I don't doubt you for a second, then they got what they deserved."<br>"Really?" asked Caly.  
>"'S a stupid, hateful prejudice, however you aren't allowed to hex people so you get detention with me."<br>"In History of Magic?"  
>"Well now, you were <em>in <em>History of Magic." Al, Rose and Caly smiled at that but Scor still remained pale and worried looking. He could see Caly, Rose and Al turning to look at him and knew exactly what they were going to ask.

"I don't want to talk about it." he blurted out. They all looked at him.  
>"Why?"<br>"I just don't. I can't." his hands were shaking.  
>"You ain't your father."<br>"I know."  
>"You proved that again today. You stood up for someone who was called mudblood. Your dad wouldn't've done that.""Yes that was proved by your reminiscing."<br>"Is it really that bad?"  
>"Worse than you can imagine." Hagrid surveyed Scorpius with the kind of look that you can only get from someone who is old. The look was laden with wisdom, that was hidden amongst the understanding, sympathy and kindness.<br>"You a murderer?" the accusation was so blunt, so callous and yet said in such a light tone that it startled everyone.  
>"What?"<br>"You a murderer?" Scor didn't reply. Hagrid's great bushy eyebrows went up just a fraction. "Look kid I don't know what you've done but I don't think you're a bad person. Bad people don't sacrifice themselves for others. Remorse is the hardest thing that any human can attempt but I reckon you've done it. Now you turned your backs on those Slytherins. Whether you were like them once, don't mean you're like them now. You changed and there aren't many people that can do that. You were strong enough to realise that you yourself were wrong, not the people around were, _you _were." Scor blinked at him. His grey eyes huge. "Don't bring yourself down about this. Whatever you've done you've felt remorse and you're seeking redemption. That is impressive, that is truly a feat beyond anything. 'S more impressive than you sacrificing your life at the end of last year. You're on the right road."  
>"You don't know what I did."<br>"I know, but I will because one day you'll be ready and you'll tell us. You'll tell your family and you're friends and I can promise you this. Though there will be some who'll hold it against you, they're not worth bothering with."  
>"But if they have reason to-"<br>"Your true friends won't desert you." Scor gazed at him, his mouth wide, trying and failing to find a reason why he shouldn't without spilling his deepest darkest secret at Hagrid's kitchen table.  
>"Can I go?" Hagrid contemplated for half a minute.<br>"'Course." Scor got to his feet and made his way swiftly out of the cabin and back up towards the castle. Hagrid stared at the closed door with a pensive expression until Al asked.

"Hagrid, what was that about?"  
>"Scorpius did something long ago, something those Slytherins know about. Something that, if I'm not mistaken, ended in someone's death." All three of their mouths hung open. They gaped at Hagrid.<br>"He killed someone?"  
>"No, no he didn't do that. I'm not sure what he did but I think someone died. He'll tell you eventually."<br>"You think?"  
>"That's a huge burden he's carrying around with him and now the Slytherins are threatening him with blackmail… You need to stand by him though. You're his friends and no matter what he's done it doesn't change who he is." As he said this Caly could have sworn that Hagrid's eyes lingered longer on her than the other two. She looked at Al and Rose who both looked severely spooked out.<p>

"Now Caly you won't listen to Slytherins."  
>"What?"<br>"You belong at Hogwarts, you aren't a muggle." Caly shrugged and sank a bit further into her chair.  
>"Yeah."<br>"It shouldn't be too bad the bullying, just walk away and tell Neville, I mean Professor Longbottom about it."  
>"Will he care?" the question had slipped out before she could stop it. Hagrid and looked at her concerned.<br>"What do you mean, of course he'll care. One of his students is being bullied for being muggle born. It'll matter a great deal to him I 'spect." Caly nodded but couldn't keep the frown off her face. "Why?"  
>"Oh nothing."<p>

"_Freak!" The chant echoed across the playground. "Freak!" the hard impact on the asphalt playing court. Her bag is roughly snatched away.  
><em>"_Hey give that back!"  
><em>"_Freak!" and an explosion of taunting laughter and giggles. A sea of faces, all the same age and older.  
><em>"_I got her pencil case!" it's tossed above the crowd to the other side. She jumps but she can't reach.  
><em>"_Stop it! That's mine!"  
><em>"_I heard you were ditched at the children's home. I bet that's why they didn't want you because you were such a freak!" there's more laughter and jeering and she's trying so hard to fight the tears now. She's only seven and some of them are eleven. It's so unfair. She's given a push. There's a hiss of freak as she's shoved around. Pushed to the ground and she's sick and tired of it. She's not a freak, she's just different. That doesn't mean she should be bullied. She's shouting but the teachers on duty won't notice, they only pay attention to the little kids that skim their knees. Worse she can feel the anger. Then there's that rush, there's that other feeling. That one she can't explain and she knows something bad is going to happen. _

"_I'M NOT A FREAK!" she roars at the top of her voice and then there's an explosion. Or rather lot's of explosions, all the water pipes have blown up and she knows, she just knows it's her fault. _

"_Who is responsible?" the headmistress doesn't often congregate the entire school on the upper playing courts but desperate times call for desperate measures, the school is… well the upper floor is okay but the rest is best not to say. She paces up and down in front the neatly assembled rows of students, all of them stare up at their good humoured head in nothing short of terror. Then a hand goes up. It's immediate that this person was not the perpetrator, it would be preposterous. Also their demeanour; they're not shaking, they're not scared, they're not even resigned or resolute. They just look normal. _

"_Yes Miss Yates, you have something to say."  
>"Yes I do miss, I know who did it."<br>"Well spit it out." most people are looking around curiously but one person can feel dread rising inside her.  
><em>"_It was Catalina Hautly, miss." dead silence and then lots of nods. She's shaking now. Head to toe. She's never been so scared as when her headmistress turned her steely gaze on her. _

_The interrogation takes place in an empty classroom. It's pretty nasty wading through the water to get up there but that's what happens. In all honesty the head teacher isn't surprised it's Caly, she's had a lot of complaints about her. She loses her temper and lashes out at people, not to mention the strange things that happen around her. _

"_So." said Miss Ryans. "You decided to blow up the water pipes." she shook her head. Her hands were twisting in her lap, there's fear in her eyes.  
><em>"_No."  
>"Really so Miss Yates was lying was she? Why would she do that?" her hands twist even faster in her lap.<br>_"_Because her and the rest bully me." there was a raised eyebrow.  
><em>"_Really?" the disbelief was heavy in her voice.  
><em>"_Yes because I do things I can't explain." she met her head teachers eyes and for once they understood each other. Caly was strange and she caused odd things to happen. She had no friends and she often ended up in her office. However Felicity Yates was one of there top students, she was a member of the choir, captain of the netball, rounders and swimming teams and she ran the 'guardian angels', the year sixes that looked after the receptions up to year twos. She was a model pupil. She would never bully anyone, it was something that was impossible to contemplate.  
><em>"_I don't believe you." her eyes seemed to burn, there was a strange intensity to her.  
><em>"_You have to. Look!" she raised her leg to show the hole in her tight. "They pushed me around."  
><em>"_You could have fallen."  
>"Why would I lie?"<br>_"_Because you just blew up the school's water system, and she just told on you." there were tears brimming in the bottom of her eyes. They were building up and she was waiting for them to fall.  
><em>"_You have to help me." she was whispering now. "I'm scared, when I get angry I can't control it. It was an accident." and that was all Miss Ryans needed to hear. She'd done it and she'd try to pass the blame onto Felicity. She shook her head.  
><em>"_I'm very disappointed in you Miss Hautly." then the waterworks did come. She wasn't being believed. No one cared._

_"_Caly?" she wrenched herself from the invading memories, pushing them back inside her mind. "Caly you alright?"  
>"I'm fine."<br>"Had it rough when you were in the muggle world." she looked up at Hagrid. "You won't be the first and you won't be the last. People get scared, scared of what they can't explain I suspect. And when they're scared they'll lash out."  
>"Are you defending them?"<br>"No but they just didn't understand."  
>"Can I go?" Hagrid blinked.<br>"Err 'course." she got up and left.

Breathing deeply she marched up towards the grass towards Hogwarts. He was just trying to explain, she told herself. He's just giving you some advice, some stuff you already knew, granted but he didn't know. Growling she rubbed her forehead, it was just so… so… hurtful to hear someone defend the people who had tormented her, just like everyone else had. Just like every bloody one, because all her bullies could do no wrong.

She felt angry tears build up and wondered what the hell was wrong with her. If she started crying now this would be twice in two days she would be crying over nothing. She used to never cry or get upset or anything. Sighing she flopped down onto the grass by the lake and stared moodily across it's sparkling surface.

"Caly?" she looked up and there was Scor. At first she was surprised and then realised that if he had gone back to History of Magic people would have noticed they were missing. He looked tired, like he'd aged years in a couple of minutes. His cloak was drawn right up to his pointed chin, though it wasn't that cold, it was more like he was comforting himself. He wasn't meeting her eyes but gazing down at the slightly damp grass, his hands twisting compulsively. In many ways he reminded her of her whenever she'd done magic accidentally, the fear and the expectation of the worst, the defeat.

"Yes?"

"Can I sit there?" Caly looked at him, raising one eyebrow delicately she stared him down. "What do you think?" he didn't smile. His eyes continued to project an incredible sadness onto her. She sighed and waved at the grass. "Sit." he sat down cross legged and they both turned back to stare at the lake, Scor plucking at the grass stems before him.

"Did you know." he said after five minutes where they sat in silence. "That there are over 500 different types of magical plant in the lake?" she shook her head and he nodded. "It's true and the greenhouses of Hogwarts is the largest indoor collection of magical plants in Britain."

"Why are you telling me this?" he shrugged and continued to pick at the grass.

"Don't know, thought you might be interested." she nodded and returned her gaze back to the lake her mind now on Scor and his rather erratic behaviour. "The largest collection of indoor plants is in The Blauvelt Magical Institute in the USA and even they don't have a Catalina flower, you're really rare." Caly looked up and back at that. She had a feeling this was going somewhere, somewhere huge. His forehead and lips puckered as he frowned. "You know last year when you found that stuff out and you thought it was personal so you wouldn't tell." Caly nodded the wheels in her mind spinning. "And you know that you listen and you figure things out and you get people." he looked at her properly for the first time. His face creased with worry, his eyes frantic. "Would you do that for me, even if it was bad? Even if I asked you to keep it from Al and Rose?" Caly didn't hesitate. She didn't have to think. She reached out and took one of his hands and nodded. He exhaled a shaky breath. "Promise?"  
>"I promise." he nodded, closed his flickering eyelids, breathed in, raised his gaze to meet hers and opened his mouth.<p> 


	5. Competitors

Competitors

For the next few days Al and Rose noticed a steep decline in the attention span of their other two friends. They both thought that they would be happy to be back at the castle but it seemed that the run in with the Slytherins had shaken them both up. They had left the subject well alone because the only time they'd tried to broach it Scor had evacuated the room in seconds flat. They noticed that every time Caly was unable to perform a spell it seemed to irritate her more and more. She had never let it get to her before but now with the Slytherins on her back and McMillan and Smith it all seemed a little too much, but as Al had cheerfully pointed out over dinner, she had to be magical or she wouldn't be able to get inside the castle.

They were both naturally curious, though, of what Scor had done as a child. Scor being involved in any kind of death just seemed absurd and Rose wanted to go to the library and search through the Prophets and see if they found anything but Al put a stop to that. He had a firm belief in what Hagrid had said, Scor would tell them eventually and he probably wouldn't be very happy to find that his supposed best friends had been digging in his less than savoury past. Rose had huffed but eventually conceded that her cousin had a point. It was impolite. Scor could tell them when he was ready and they'd just have to wait. Caly somehow seemed to have put the whole thing from her mind. Each time they'd asked her they'd been met with the same; 'He'll tell us when he's ready, which isn't you pester him it'll just delay it.' Then again she seemed to be a bit wrapped up in her afore mentioned troubles.

All in all when the weekend rolled around their first week seemed like one of their longest weeks ever. Caly stretched in one of the armchairs, putting down her quill as she finished the conclusion of her transfiguration essay, when a little ball of paper bounced off her head.

_**Quidditch trials are at 11. Up for a game of chess? JSP**_ Caly grinned, it looked like her Saturday chess was back on. After her horrible week in which her inability to do magic and Scor's secret which had now become her secret had weighed heavily on her mind, chess was exactly what she needed.

_Only if you're prepared to loose. CH_ She scribbled to reply on the back and balled it up and threw it back. It missed and hit Lorcan on the nose and bounced onto Lysander's drying essay, she winced. She watched as James scooped it up, laughing, and read it quickly and wrote a response.

_**We'll see about that. JSP**_

Caly had won two games of chess by the time they had returned from Quidditch trials. Scor, Al and Rose were all muddy and just shaking their heads.  
>"That." said Scor as he collapsed onto the sofa. "Was the most pointless thing ever."<br>"Why?" asked Caly.  
>"Because she didn't replace anyone. We spent two hours in the rain and mud only to be told 'same squad as last year'." Al rolled his eyes.<br>"Well get showered or something and then we can have lunch."  
>"You haven't eaten?"<br>"No I've been thrashing your dear brother at wizard chess."  
>"Oi!"<br>"Shut up, James." James huffed and crossed his arms.  
>"I'll beat you one day."<br>"Yeah sure you will."  
>"We'll see you in a bit then." said Rose as she headed towards the steps towards the dormitory and Caly gave her friends a casual wave glad things were returning to some sort of semblance of normality, or as normal as Hogwarts got.<p>

Sighing she pulled a blank piece of parchment towards her and figured she might as well start Sprout's essay whilst she was waiting for her friends, Scor spent an inordinate amount of time in the shower. Picking up a quill some of the things he'd said to her came flooding back to her.

_I wasn't always like this… but I never meant it though, I think I always knew it was wrong but I still did it… in the end though it was all my fault… if I'd just said no, it might never have happened. _

Scowling she threw back down her quill and turned it over in her mind, there wasn't anything she could do. It was all in the past. What did he want from her?

_And it just eats me up. The guilt because I know… and he knows… and they know… and she knew and she didn't care. _

An outlet? Someone to go? Rubbing her forehead she sighed and tried not to let her topsy turvey emotions get the better of her. She knew that she had been short with Al and Rose but she hoped that they'd passed that off as frustration and the name calling.

_And I don't think I can tell them… not Rose, especially, because it'll just… everything'll be true… and Al, I don't know how he'd react… I guess you could say I trust you more._

She would be flattered by that if it wasn't quite so serious. Well… she sighed again and pushed the parchment back into her bag knowing that she would never get the work done know. Getting up she walked over to some of the other second years. They smiled at her and they budged up and soon they were discussing the Transfiguration homework and why it had to be so _hard._

On Sunday there was a tense, excited atmosphere when they sat down for dinner in the great hall. A notice had been put up that morning saying that the people playing the game would be selected after the meal. Everyone kept talking about what they thought the games might be and who they thought might be chosen.

"It's four from each house right?" asked Martin, he was sitting just left of Scor.  
>"Yeah." said Al as he bit into a chicken leg.<br>"What's the betting it's you four." said Declan all the people around them laughed.  
>"What makes you say that?" asked Scor.<br>"Well you have gotten a knack for trouble." they all rolled their eyes. As usual stories that you would rather keep private had gotten out, so everyone knew about them attacking the Slytherins on the first day back.  
>"It would-"<br>"Be so-""Funny if-"  
>"It was-"<br>"You four." said Kyle and Finn.  
>"We'd loose for sure." said Caly as she rolled her eyes at the Thomas twins antics.<br>"Did you not come top of ze year?" asked JP.  
>"They did." said Philip East, all the second years were sitting together though they didn't often talk like this.<br>"Yeah and Caly solves puzzles." said Daniel Morden. "Remember my crossword book." All the Gryffindors laughed again.  
>"I bet three galleons it's them." Michael Stone fished out the money and put it on the table.<br>"You're on." said Scor, digging around in his robes for three galleons. "Oh I only have one."  
>"Here." Rose and Al put a galleon each on the table. Caly rolled her eyes again.<br>"This is ridiculous the odds are… I don't even want to know what the odds are."  
>"I'm a betting man." said Michael. "Or at least my father is."<p>

They were silenced when Professor McGonagall got to her feet. She surveyed the hall and all the excited up turned faces.

"I am glad to see that you have all taken to this new game with enthusiasm and I hope that that shall persist. I would like to clarify that you may partake in Quidditch and this game, as well. Now the competitors." At those words everyone sat up a little bit more in their seats. "When your team has been announced I want you to go through to this chamber at the back." she indicated the door directly behind the staff table. "The competitors have been selected by their heads of house at random so you may have a team that is all first year or all seventh year but you should be on an even footing.

So from the Slytherin house; Judas Nott, Irving Flint, Irvine Flint, Tyson Goyle." there was an eruption of applause from the Slytherin table as well as lots of cheering. Four tall, thickset boys, got up and made their way up to the back of the hall.

"Nott's in seventh year. Flint's and Goyle are sixth, they're all on the Quidditch team." Caly nodded but didn't need the whisper from Rose, she recognised them all.

"From Ravenclaw; Ewan Tirrel, Bonnie Stuart, Dominique Weasley, Riley Doart." there was much more applause for them and Caly cheered for Dom who she'd seen wince at 'Dominique'.  
>"Hufflepuff; Jonathen Peacher, Matilda Lorn, Alice Longbottom, Michael MacDougal." Caly clapped again and leant in to Rose.<p>

"Is it just my imagination or is everyone but Dom and Ally on the Quidditch team." Rose thought about it then nodded.  
>"I think so, some might be reserves but yeah." Caly nodded. Of all the houses none of them had had anyone below third year and the house with the most spread was Ravenclaw; 7th year, 5th year, 4th year, 3rd year. Professor McGonagall leant to Professor Longbottom to hear who he had chosen for Gryffindor and could have sworn that she had seen her roll her eyes slightly, Professor Longbottom was definitely smiling.<p>

"For Gryffindor; Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Scorpius Malfoy, Catalina Hautly." there was an incredulous silence. Then all the second year Gryffindors burst out laughing. They dissolved into uncontrollable hysterics as Michael swept his winnings off the table. Caly sunk a crimson face into her palm and whilst the other three all shared looks. Then Gryffindor finally realised what was going on and burst into applause. There was loud cheering and hooting, coming from Fred and his friends, and they stood up and made their way, scarlet faced up to the high table.

When they went through the door they were met with the sight of the other 12 competitor all looking curiously at who was going to come through. Caly could have sworn that Dom and Ally's eyes met and they shared an why-am-I-not-surprised-expression.

"Hey cousin." said Al.  
>"Hey there." there was an awkward silence until Professor McGonagall came through followed by Professors Longbottom, Fltiwick, Sprout and Slughorn.<p>

"Right then, now you've all been chosen as the competitors." there was another awkward silence. "This puzzle works sort of like a treasure hunt." Caly's head went up, listening intently, she'd always been rather good at those. "There are clues hidden all over Hogwarts, you must solve the clues and it will lead you closer to your goal."  
>"I swear the Ravenclaw's have an advantage. Don't they have to solve a riddle everyday to get into their common room." Jonathen Peacher had spoken from the back of the four Hufflepuffs.<br>"I didn't say anything about riddles Mr Peacher. I said clues." he frowned.  
>"She means anything." spoke up Caly. "It could be-" the rest of her sentence was broken off by Scor who had clamped a hand over her mouth. Caly frowned at him, he was staring at her very intently then back at the Hufflepuff then shook his head. It took her half a second to work out what he meant. They had an advantage over Hufflepuff.<br>"Thank you Mr Malfoy, it seems you may need to teach Miss Hautly the meaning of the word competition." Caly scowled and Scor took away his hand.  
>"Now here is your first clue. Remember the topic can be from anywhere. I'm trying to get you to think." They all waited. After half a minute Professor McGonagall said. "Why are you all standing there you need to go find it."<br>"What?"  
>"I hid the first clue, now go find it." they all left looking at each other, completely confused.<p>

The four of them ran out into the deserted great hall and stopped. The other teams rushed past them, clearly looking for somewhere else to go.

"What the hell?" said Al. Scor shrugged, Rose frowned. All three of them turned to Caly who was staring at the door from where they'd come.  
>"Well?" said Scor. "Any words of wisdom?" she just pulled a face.<br>"I'm not sure." she said. "Something isn't right, though."  
>"Great now what?"<br>"It could be anywhere."  
>"We could steal James' map." Caly just shook her head.<br>"No, she gave us a clue."  
>"How do you know?"<br>"Because otherwise there wouldn't be any point. It'd be luck, a matter of who found it first and there's no skill in that."  
>"But she only spoke."<br>"So it was in her words."  
>"You really get this stuff don't you." Caly shrugged, beginning to pace backwards and forwards. "What did she say. Word for word." Al, Rose and Scor looked at each other.<br>" 'Now here is your first clue. Remember the topic can be from anywhere. I'm trying to get you to think. Why are you all standing there you need to go find it. I hid the first clue, now go find it.' " Al recited it and then looked at Caly who shook her head.  
>"Write it down." Rose pulled a piece of parchment from her bag and began to scribble it down with Al dictating at her shoulder. The four of them crowded round it again.<br>"Well?"  
>"Nothing. Rose?"<br>"Nah. Al?"  
>"Don't look at me. Scor?"<br>"All I can think is that the last sentence would have sounded better if she had put an 'and' in it." Al and Rose snorted but Caly's head whipped up.  
>"What?"<br>"What?" Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"What did you just say?"<br>"The last sentence would sound better with an 'and'"  
>"I hid the first clue, now go <em>and <em>find it."  
>"So?"<br>"So we found the clue!"  
>"That's brilliant! What does it mean?" Caly's smile faltered.<br>"Err." she had absolutely no idea what the clue was about.  
>"And. It's a conjunction, one of the most common."<br>"Common, what about the common room?" said Al. The other three looked at him.  
>"But there are four."<br>"Yeah but McGonagall only ever went in one."  
>"Oh my god it's on our common room! How do the other's get in?" Everyone looked at Caly, incredulous expressions on their faces.<br>"You care about the other houses?"  
>"No I was just wondering."<br>"I guess the fat lady must be told in advance or something." the other's nodded. That made sense.  
>"You know I dread to think what's going to happen when the Slytherins try and go in." Caly burst out laughing.<p>

The four of them set off at a sprint. The game had just begun but already, deeply etched in each of them was a desire to win. A desire to up hold their houses honour, and just generally show everyone how clever they were, an opportunity Scor and Rose would never pass up even if it was Al who had really cracked this one. Their feet pounded on the staircases as they raced towards Gryffindor tower and several portraits, who had previously been peacefully snoozing, heads resting on the edge of their frames, raised them now, angrily and shushed them. However they paid no attention to them as they continued to wear away the stone staircases.

"Mandrakes." they gasped to the Fat Lady, grumbling she swung open. The four of them darted inside and looked around the common room, the excitement wearing off as they realised that they didn't know where in the common room it was.  
>"This is ridiculous." said Scor, popping up from under a sofa. "We don't even know what we're looking for."<br>"Yeah." said Al, his messy hair appearing first from a table next to the portrait hole where he'd been sorting through a stack of books beneath it. "It might not be in here. It could be upstairs in one of the dormitories."  
>"No because it actually makes sense."<br>"Huh?" said Rose. She was rubbing scrap pieces of parchment with a special rubber Aunt Hermione had given her that revealed hidden things.  
>" 'And' is a conjunction right?"<br>"Yeah."  
>"So it is used to join clauses, phrases and words together. Like 'I went to park <em>and<em> rode my bike' it's where they meet." Al frowned.  
>"I'm not following you." However both Rose and Scor seemed to be going over what she was saying again.<br>"So you think it's in here because the dormitories meet here." said Scor as Rose nodded along.  
>"Yeah."<br>"But what are we looking for?"  
>"Words I think." said Scor. "We're looking for anything that is a puzzle."<br>"But where in the common room?"

"Portrait hole." it was Rose.  
>"What?" everyone looked at her.<br>"How do you know?" asked Caly completely confused. She hadn't gotten that far.  
>"Two reasons. It's mostly used in the middle of the sentence right, but it can also used at the start. At the beginning. The portrait hole is the beginning of the common room and look!" she pointed and sure enough there was a corner of parchment sticking out from the underside of the back of the portrait hole, where they hadn't bothered to look.<p>

Rose reached it first bending down she was able to pull off a little slip of parchment. The other three crowded round to read it. To their surprise they found that it was blank Rose pulled tried her rubber but to no avail.

"Now what?" asked Al.  
>"I think we should take it to McGonagall."<p>

They ran back out of the portrait hole and back down the staircases. No one else was around, the castle was completely deserted and it was only now that Caly had time to realise how odd how it was for their common room to be empty this early. She supposed McGonagall must have told them to clear the dormitory, though what was interesting was what she had threatened the curious ones with to get them to stay away. When they were running down the marble staircase the Ravenclaw's, who were coming out of one of the disused classrooms off the entrance hall, came dashing past. Ewan Tirrel saying.  
>"I can't believe we didn't see it before." and Dom sparing them a wink.<p>

Just as they thought Professor McGonagall, along with the other heads of house, was still in the small chamber off the great hall. They turned when the four of them entered. Professor Longbottom broke into a delighted smile. The other teachers looked between themselves; impressed and surprised.

"Well it seems that you four have done best in the first stage of the competition. You are the first back." Caly could feel the grin breaking out across her face and turned excitedly to her friends to see that they looked the same.  
>"Now don't let it go to your head." said McGonagall sternly. "There's plenty of time to catch up."<br>"How will we know when it ends?" asked Al.  
>"When there isn't a clue but an object." they looked at each. "Trust me when I say that you will know when it's over." Frowning they exchanged another look. "Give the paper." Rose handed it over. McGonagall tapped it once with her wand and black marks appeared on it, handing it back she realised they were letters.<p>

DYRFINROCGOFIGRDR ZARSTLISHEAYLANR FALFHEULGFPEHFU ONRWALAECNVWAER

"You better head back to your dormitories. You have lessons tomorrow."

They left in silence and didn't talk as they walked back to the common room. The Ravenclaws passed them when they reached the top of the staircase on the seventh floor. Thankfully there was no one else in the common room. One glance over it made Caly think that it was two things; a series of anagrams and not something they should do now in case one of the other houses came in and because they needed to go to bed. Instead they agreed that Al, who was very neat, would look after it and they'd look at it tomorrow break. With that they parted and collapsed into bed.


	6. Old Wounds and Warning Signs

Old Wounds and Warning Signs

They'd solved the anagram easily. It had been child's play really, the answers; Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. The only thing was they didn't know what this clue meant. It had been nearly a week since it had happened and they still hadn't figured it out. Almost most agonising of all was that Professor McGonagall had decided that the progress of the race should be kept a secret, meaning she was the only person that knew who was in front, even the heads of house didn't because it was feared that they would tell their pupils.

On Thursday after school, three days after they'd solved the anagrams, Scor sat down next to her in the common room with an unusually bleak expression on his face. He pulled out his essay, got out a bottle of ink, dipped his quill in it and then held himself poised to write. Caly eyed this position and knew that some sort of talk was coming, he'd adopted this pose before only to be interrupted by Al and/or Rose, however tonight they were at Hagrid's so they could talk freely.

After five minutes of sitting there dripping ink onto the piece of parchment, Scorpius seemed to come to. He turned to Caly and said, his voice serious.

"Have you thought about what I said?" Caly put down her own quill turned and gave him an incredulous stare. How could she not have?  
>"Of course."<br>"And?"  
>"And what?" she asked cautiously. Half curious to know what he wanted, half worried.<br>"And what should I do?" Caly froze. When he'd said to her that she 'got people' she had thought he had meant that she would understand him, which she had, not that she'd help him tell other people so they wouldn't freak out to the epic proportions that were semi worthy.

"Err." He looked at her pleading and she hung her head into hand, thinking. "I don't know… why don't you just tell them?"  
>"Because, you know, they're not like you." Caly frowned. True they were all different people, way to be a genius, but she highly doubted they would turn their backs on him because of this.<br>"But we're friends Scor. We're best friends. Sure Al and Rosie have lead a closeted comfortable life so they may not understand what we've been through but I doubt that they would walk away without giving you a chance to at least explain. I really doubt that they wouldn't try to understand."  
>"But they <em>won't<em>!"  
>"Scor!" she said her voice rising as loud as it could without it attracting attention to them. Her head was upright, her back was straight, in a combative stance, her hands splayed on the table. He jumped slightly, it wasn't at the anger projected in her voice but at the smouldering look directed at him from her eyes. He gazed at her, never had he seen her loose her temper even in the slightest. He knew that his eyes were wide and that he had shrunk back slightly, listening to what she had to say. "You have to give them a chance. They gave you one before and like hell you came out worse."<br>"I think that was your fault."  
>"Really because I seem to recall you choosing Gryffindor because you wanted to be with Al and Rose." he swallowed. It was true, of course, that was the real reason he had picked Gryffindor over a safeish option like Ravenclaw. He'd done it because for once in his life he'd found people who liked him, who hadn't judged him and even if they had they'd been prepared to brush away their old illusions and give him a chance. He hadn't wanted to give that up, ever. He was so sure that they were going to go into Gryffindor, well Caly hadn't been sorted the three of them had been freaking out a little about that but had reasoned that she must have missed the boats, but he was 100% sure that Al and Rose would be Gryffindors and that Caly could easily be one. So he'd made the hardest and easiest decision of his life. It had been so simple and yet so very complicated.<p>

And that was why he was so afraid to tell them. He could trust because Caly would never ever judge someone, she was, well, she was freakin perfect. He had known that Caly would help him because Caly could always see the flip side, give her long enough. She could understand why her bullies had bullied her. She said that if she had been in that position who knows what she might have done? But he couldn't risk his friendship with Al and Rose. It was everything for him. It was family, it was home. He wasn't prepared to risk anything, he had far to much to loose.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything." Caly raised her eyebrows at him again.  
>"Really." Scor sighed. He put his head in both hands. He exhaled and after a brief pause Caly reached over and rested an hand comfortingly on his back, gently rubbing small circles.<br>"Please tell me you're not crying."  
>"Not quite."<br>"Good." She looked ahead across the common room filled with laughing people, or stressed people feverishly trying to finish work. No one bothered them, if anyone saw them they assumed that Scor was just remembering his mother.

"You've got to try and not let this get to you."  
>"Think we're a little past that point." she chuckled slightly, and heard one that was muffled by his hands coming from Scor.<p>

"Scor c'mon this isn't as bad as you're making it out to be. I think between myself and Hagrid we've successfully convinced Rose and Al that you will talk to 'us' when you're ready." Scor noted the way she said 'us'. 'Ah crap' he thought. Rose and Al thought that Caly was as clueless as them, which was the point but that meant he'd have to tell Caly all over again. That meant when he told them Caly couldn't be there to give him support because if they knew she'd known first, _and_ if he listed his reasons, which sounded bad to _him_, there would be fireworks. It would probably sound like a betrayal of trust, and he knew that would really get to him, his supposed best friends keeping massive secrets and trusting each other more. But then would they care? Or would they have walked away already?

"And they will wait till you're ready." Caly had kept talking unaware of Scor's racing, panicked thoughts. "You don't have to tell them today. You don't have to tell them tomorrow but one day you will tell them because that is one feeling of guilt you can alleviate." he blinked at her. His face raised slightly. Eyes meeting, Scor wondered how Caly knew all this stuff.

"Will you talk to me?" Caly's brow furrowed. She looked down at Scor trying to work out what on earth he was going on about.  
>"What?" she asked, completely confused.<br>"I want to know what's bothering you. It's something more than the Slytherin's and Atticus and Smith, but something to do with them." Caly's eyebrows went upwards, shocked. Scor smiled, sitting further upright. "You aren't the only person who can understand people. Talking to you really helped me Caly. I use to talk to her and now I talk to you. It helps." Caly nodded, she knew that, she'd just never had anyone to talk to. Anyone she thought she could trust completely. She wasn't used to trusting people with secrets. She swallowed looking at him.  
>"I know. It's nothing terrible. It's nothing like your story." Scor made a face and looked away. "Sorry."<br>"But we are quite similar, right?"  
>"Yeah, I think, I mean we've both been bullied from our youth."<br>"Except…"  
>"You wanted to hear about me and I'm talking." Scor looked back into her face fully and smiled gratefully at her. She returned it with a small one of her own. "You can't have the spotlight always." they both laughed.<br>"What happened?" he asked, leaning back looking at her where she sat straight backed. She swallowed and looked away.

_Hurt. Pain. Anger. Fear. Regret. Guilt. Hurt…_

Meeting his eyes again she breathed deeply again, sinking into the sofa next to him she exhaled.

"I was different." turning her head to him she twitched the right side of her mouth upwards but Scorpius just stared back. "I was just different. That was all it was really. I was just so different. I could never be like them." Scor nodded. He knew this bit. "It's fear, fear and prejudice. But fear mainly, you see something you can't explain and it scares you and people don't know how to react. The best shunned me, tried to pretend that if they just ignored it it would all go away. The worst lashed out and tried to make me change." her hands were clenching and her eyes were filling with tears. "But that wasn't the worst thing about it though, not really. No, the worst thing is being terrified of yourself." Scor sat up, he hadn't heard this before. Looking at her he could see that the tears were threatening to spill. He reached out and carefully unballed her hands from their fists, taking them comfortingly in his. "Terrified of what you might do to other people. I was so scared of myself." she took a couple of deep breaths and Scor was seriously beginning to regret asking but at the same time knew this was good. "I tried reaching out but no one believed me because all my bullies were freakin perfect, because the adults too were distrustful and wary of me. I was so alone. I was only seven." Now she was crying, completely quietly and he let her, still holding her hands. "Then I learned how to suppress it. It took me ages, weeks, but I did it." she half smiled. "I was so happy when I couldn't do it anymore when I just got angry. I don't know what happened. I don't know what I did." she shook her head, mouth slightly open, eyes blinking away the tears which were slowing. "But still, it was too late. Everyone in my year knew and passed around rumours. It never went away. I got used to just being ignored when I got older, bigger. It's why I'm strong you learn to fight back. I had a 'friend', see, George. He was the one who taught me to play the guitar." A small smile spread across her face. "He actually taught me to play when I was six, he treated me well, I never knew why. But George wasn't always around and he left when I was eight. George made everything a little better and he was huge." she held out her arms from her side and chuckled a bit. "Everyone made fun of him for playing the guitar. Sort of why we were friends, he didn't get along with the other boys his age. He taught me to fight."

"Who taught you to play chess?" asked Scor, curiously. Caly looked at him for half a second then burst out laughing. "What?" he asked.  
>"Nothing." she snorted. "I learnt because my school had a chess club that was virtually uninhabited, the only people that went were people that ignored me and this weird kid that thought I was a Martian" she snorted again and then burst into hysterics when she saw the look on Scor's face.<br>"He thought you were a what?"  
>"A Martian, from Mars." Caly laughed. Scor looked at her incredulously.<br>"Seriously?"  
>"Yeah, that kid got bullied nearly as badly as I did. He was odd but he was a chess addict. He'd been playing since he was little and he had these whole strategies for how to win. No one else would play against me but him, because he wanted to 'observe' me. Yeah but I just learnt to play against him and I don't find it hard." she shrugged. "I guess it's a combination of me being naturally good at chess and him 'desiring to know the mental capacity for logic of Martians'." Scor looked at her like he wasn't entirely sure whether she was lying.<br>"So let me guess this straight. You learnt to play chess because you weren't really bullied there. You're really good at it because you were taught by this chess genius who thought you were an alien… from Mars. That's ridiculous there aren't aliens on Mars." She shrugged.  
>"He was about 7 or 8 when this started." Scor shook his head.<br>"But still…You know if that story had come from anyone else I may not have believed but somehow I can really see that happening to you." Caly smiled again. Somehow looking back she was able to see that there was quite a bit of light in her dark childhood, even if it did come in unlikely places.  
>"I don't know whether I should find that comment flattering or not."<p>

"Can you believe we're both smiling?" both of them smiled their grins stretched wide, on the verge of bursting out into laughter. She shook her head, leaning right into the sofa. Scor sat with her silently, he wasn't saying anything anymore. They didn't need to say anything anymore. She understood what Scorpius had done, what he'd wanted. He'd taken her through the dark and into the light and she really felt better.

"CALY! SCOR!" Both of them jumped up right and turned their heads towards the portrait hole where Al and Rose had just scrambled through and were now racing towards them. As they through themselves down before them Caly and Scor detached hands, which they suddenly realised they were still holding. Rose raised her eyebrows whilst Al gave them a cheeky grin and wink. Caly rolled her eyes and Scor just ran a hand disdainfully through his hair.

"We've got giant news!" said Al.  
>"We guessed." said Scor. Caly suppressed a smirk, he was returning to his old self. If he couldn't tell them yet then at least he could try and not let it affect him so. Rose just ignored him.<br>"We've figured it out! We think we know where the next clue is!" This attracted both of their full attentions. Caly and Scor's eyes went wide.  
>"You what?" said Scor.<br>"We think we figured out where the next clue is." repeated Rose excitedly.  
>"And?" said Caly, leaning forward, resting her clasped hands on her knees.<br>"The hour glasses." said Al.

It took a moment to for his statement to sink in. Caly blinked at him and Scor frowned waiting for his brain to put it all together.

"Ohhh." said Caly falling backwards again as Scor ran a hand through his hair, mouth falling open as he began to understand. Rose and Al looked on at them excited.  
>"Well? Do you think it's right?"<br>"It would make sense." said Scor, hand resting at the base of his neck.  
>"Perfect sense. The four houses in the same place together, it's actually only the other place I can think of. And the order is right; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw."<br>"And they're always distinguishable." pointed out Rose. "Remember what you said about the Great Hall, and how all the tables looked the same so it couldn't be them, that's how Al got it."  
>"I didn't get it."<br>"Yes you did. Anyway, we were on our way back from Hagrid's and then Al stopped in the Entrance Hall and stares at the hour glasses. I stopped and asked him what was wrong. He just shook his head and said that he wasn't sure. He thought there was something about the hour glasses."  
>"And then Rose put it together. She looked at them for maybe half a minute more and then she grabbed me shouting 'Al you've done it! You've solved it!' and dragged me up here to you two."<br>"So you didn't actually look at them?" asked Scor.  
>"No." said Rose. "I thought we should tell you first." Caly exchanged a glance with Scor, whilst it was nice to be kept in the loop they were risking curfew if they went out now.<p>

"I'll get the cloak should I?" said Al.  
>"Yeah."<p>

The four of them moved slowly and very uncomfortably under the invisibility cloak. The security in the castle, Caly was sure, had been increased since last year. Or their luck was worse. As they shuffled down the hallways the scuffing of their feet and rustle of their clothes kept attracting the attention of the portraits and in one heart stopping moment The Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw tower, floated through them as they 'scurried' down the third floor. Also they kept clipping each others heels and treading on each others toes as they stopped and started suddenly, causing hisses of pain to issue inadvertently from their mouths.

It was good to reach the Entrance Hall and whip off the cloak. Whilst it was a bit of a risk they couldn't search for a clue under the cloak, it wasn't feasible. They hurried forwards across the flag stone floor to where the giant hour glasses, filled with jewels, loomed over them. At the moment Ravenclaw was in the lead by 50 points, Gryffindor in second, Slytherin in third and Hufflepuff trailing a point behind in last. Each hour glass was supported against the wall by a giant wooden structure and it was this that Caly, Rose, Al and Scor began to examine.

At first they could see nothing. The wood work had nothing unusual or untoward carved onto it. There were no runes or symbols or even markings of people bumping into it. Frowning Scor straightened up. Al looked guiltily across at Rose, wondering if they'd got it wrong. Caly was still up close to the beam, sure that the clue was there.

"Well?"  
>"It has to be here." muttered Caly, circling round. The other three stood back, watching her.<br>"We could have gotten it wrong." suggested Al, the invisibility cloak hanging from his left hand. Caly shook her head.  
>"I know it's here…" she trailed off frozen. She was still crouched over, slowly she beckoned to the other three. They crept over and looked at what she was looking at. Scratched faintly onto the wood was a set of initials.<p>

_W.S.-M._

Scor clapped her on the back as he fumbled for a pen, he kept a muggle one around after he'd discovered them saying they were much more convenient then quills. He carefully wrote the answer on the back of his hand and Al threw the cloak back over them and they snuck back to the tower.

Caly was glad of the fact that they had Potions first thing on Friday. Once she had completed the assignment; find the necessary ingredients to complete the method on the board and then brew, she had been able to doze behind the cauldron. Her friends didn't have quite such a relaxing morning, Rose and Scor were having a race and Al had melted his cauldron when he put the wrong ingredient and then blew up the spare school one. His robes were singed, as were the tips of his fringe and eyebrows. He cleaned the soot of his round glasses and scowled at Caly who had blinked blearily when the bang had occurred and Scor and Rose who had rolled their eyes and tutted. The Slytherins shot Scor dark looks throughout the lesson which unsettled him ever so slightly.

In Transfiguration Caly and Professor Liann seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement to never bring up her inability to perform magic. Instead Professor Liann had her copy out overly detailed diagrams of how to perform each spell in the first and second year textbook and then had given her a very complicated textbook on how all the spells actually worked. She had said that understanding the theory fully was the first step. It wasn't that bad, just a little tedious.

That day was no different, whilst the others attempted to turn a pin cushion into a snuffbox she sat there drawing complicated diagrams with arrows and little dots. It was mildly enjoyable to sit there whilst Al waved his arms in a way akin to a windmill and Rose and Scor ducked whilst trying to beat each other at performing the spell first, though it was inevitable the Rose would win.

Professor Liann seemed to have formed a distinct dislike for Scor. Caly had noted this in their first ever lesson, and she knew that the name of Malfoy had an old and dark history, but she'd thought that it was getting better. Last year Scor had encountered no hate from any member of staff because of who his family were. He'd had it from the students, and still did from a select few, but then he'd been able to talk back and now most had been won over by his actions last year. However in this battle he was completely powerless. Professor Liann could stand before him and make whatever snide and cutting remarks against him that she wished and Scor couldn't talk back for fear of landing in serious trouble. He knew that she, like so many people in his life, was waiting for him to slip up. Rose had suggested he reported it but he knew that wouldn't get him very far, there was no real proof, Al, Rose and Caly's testimonies would be useless. Instead he sat there, a silent hard mask on his face, stoically taking every comment and unjust marking.

And, again, today was no different.

"What is this?" Professor Liann bent over Scor's work, picking up the half transfigured pincushion. The mask fell onto Scor's face. The shutters went down over his eyes and his mouth fell into a completely neutral shape, it had clearly been perfected.  
>"I'm not sure." he said. His tone was calm and even, next to him Rose was shaking with suppressed anger. "I think I may have missed out a flick." Professor Liann's face twisted.<br>"Why don't you take this class then? If you know every mistake made." Scor swallowed and Caly knew that in his head he was censoring his reply, carefully discarding all sarcastic elements until he found one that was polite and non-confrontational.  
>"I don't think that's a good idea, I'm not qualified." Caly looked at Al who was staring at the two of them his wand half raised. Their eyes met and they both thought.<p>

'Well that wasn't _so_ bad.'

"You think you're really clever don't you." Caly crossed her fingers and hoped that he didn't say what she thought he might.  
>"Not really clever no but I have been told that my intelligence, like Rose's, exceeds normal levels." Caly felt like banging her head against the desk. A thump to her left told her that Al actually had. It seemed that Scor was programmed with sarcasm in his blood and he couldn't help it dripping through if he had no other response.<p>

"Professor Liann." said Rose suddenly. Her hand had shot into the air and she looked pale, all eyes were on her. "I'm feeling ill." without warning she turned her head and projectile vomited onto both Al and Scor.

Caly winced as little bits of sick hit her but the two boys, who looked shell shocked, had acted as a good shield. There was a shocked silence from the class and until Rose threw up over her desk.

"Miss Hautly." Caly looked up at Professor Liann from where she had been wiping sick from her hair. "Take Miss Weasley to the hospital wing, I will be checking to make sure you arrived." so she suspected that Rose had used the snack boxes, which Caly just knew she had. "You two boys go clean up."

The four of them left the classroom quickly, Scor and Al still dripping in Rose's vomit. Rose had thrown up once more before she had left the classroom, so there was now sick down her front but the moment they were out she swallowed the other half of the sweet. The four of them half ran up two flights of stairs before stopping.

"What was that?" said Scor. He looked thoroughly disgusted. His normally immaculate visage was completely ruined. He had sick hanging from the ends of his hair and robes. He looked completely dishevelled. Caly had never seen him that dirty.  
>"Me saving you from detention." Scor sighed and brushed sick of himself with a completely disgusted look on his face.<br>"Couldn't you have done it in a less messy way?" he asked in feigned casualness.  
>"No, well, I considered Nose Bleed Nugart but there was a very high chance she wouldn't let you take me to the hospital wing." Scor sighed and wrung his damp sleeves out.<br>"I guess I should thank you but I am covered in sick." They shared a small smile whilst Al just shook his head behind their backs.  
>"Rose." said Caly. "Not that I'm not thankful that you got Scor out of trouble, but just out of interest, where did you get the Puking Pastilles from?"<br>"Oh." she said, looking up from where she'd been examining the damage to her robes. "I took them off Al." The other three turned to the now sheepish looking Al. Scor raised his eyebrow, inviting an explanation.  
>"I was going to skive of Astronomy and get some decent sleep." he shrugged. "But I definitely wasn't going to use the Puking Pastille, I was going to use the Fever Fudge, or something."<br>"Well anyway." said Caly. "We need to get to the Hospital Wing and you two need to clean and be back in the lesson." They nodded and split. Rose walked off next to Caly with a frown.

"What do I tell Madame Pomfrey?" she asked.  
>"Eh?" asked Caly. She had been trying to think of less drastic ways to resolve the problem between Professor Liann and Scor.<br>"How do I explain to Madame Pomfrey why I was sick in class one moment and I'm fine now." Caly shrugged.  
>"Say you just felt sick and so you were, now you still feel ill but don't think you're going to be sick." Rose shot her a quizzical look and Caly shrugged.<br>"I cut school a lot when I was younger, I faked ill." Rose nodded.  
>"Why did you hate school. I mean you were bullied but was it <em>that<em> bad?" Caly pulled a face, for some reason talking to Rose about this seemed uncomfortable somehow.  
>"Yeah it was, I mean looking back I know there were times when I was sort of okay, but most of time I was sort of depressed." Rose frowned.<br>"But you're alright now?"  
>"Yeah." she said but it was half hearted and Rose wasn't convinced. Luckily they had reached the hospital wing.<p>

"Well you seem fine now." Caly sat on the bed next to Rose casually swinging her legs, in a bored manner. Rose had undergone a 15 minute check for what must have been everything. Madame Pomfrey seemed absolutely determined to find something wrong with her and looked a little confused when she stood back gazing at the slightly pale girl before her.

"Maybe it was something she ate?" Caly suggested. The Matron looked at the girl next to her who hadn't left her side in case of anything. The Matron had cleaned her up whilst they waited for the results. She nodded, it was possible.  
>"Yes, it could just have been funny digestion." she scrutinised the girl before her again. "What is your afternoon lesson?"<br>"We don't have one." and once more her attention was diverted onto Caly. "We have a free then Astronomy after dinner." Madame Pomfrey.  
>"Take her up to her dormitory for some rest and then take her to dinner and bring her back to me if you don't think she's up for Astronomy." Caly nodded.<br>"Come on Rosie." she said and helped the other girl of the bed. Rose wobbled and clutched Caly's arm. They made their way slowly out of the door and Madame Pomfrey hoped against hope she hadn't missed anything, it was Rose Weasley after all.

Outside Rose and Caly relaxed, Rose let go of Caly's arm and stood up straight. She smiled and some of the colour returned to her cheeks.

"Good performance?" asked Rose.  
>"Very convincing." said Caly as they walked towards the common room.<br>"You weren't bad yourself."  
>"Well it's like I said, practise." Rose nodded and had the good sense not to pry. It was like Scor, they would talk when they were ready.<p>

Astronomy was taken by Professor Overy. All four of them had noticed that in their lessons that she was very quiet, simply giving them instructions and then leaving them to work. Caly wasn't surprised by this, she had seemed incredibly close to Everret. Now to know that your lover was in fact an insane Siamese twin who had murdered three people and tried to murder four students must cause some quite considerable pain.

That night there was even less life in her, and, Caly noted, her wedding ring had gone. Her husband had left her. Caly discreetly pointed this out to Scor, Al and Rose, surprised she had missed it in the first lesson.

"I want you to continue with you star charts." came her weak voice. The bags under her eyes were huge. "Please do this in silence." Raising an eyebrow at Scor she set up her telescope and set to work.

After half an hour she was considering dipping into Rose's bag and taking a Fever Fudge. It was incredibly tedious to map out every star in the sky, especially as last year Professor Overy would have them find a star in a race and then tell them something interesting about it, weaving the bits of important information into the story. Now just looking, and mapping made her want to fall asleep. She could see Scor's eyes drooping behind his telescope, Al had his forehead rested on the eyepiece and hadn't looked down it in a long time. Just about everyone in the class was in a similar state. Only Rose was doing the work.

"Oh!" Rose had jumped up from behind her telescope. Many people jolted out of semi dream states. "Oh! Professor Overy!" Professor Overy tiredly got to her feet in a way that said she would rather stay where she was.  
>"What is it?" she asked, her voice dull.<br>"Look! Look at it!" Rose was pointing excitedly at her telescope. Everyone was watching her, the Gryffindors somewhere between fondly bemused and amused and the Slytherins superiorly disdainful. Professor Overy bent and looked at what Rose had her telescope focused on. She stared down the lens for several seconds before standing up. There was no mistaking the change in expression in her face. She looked incredibly surprised.

"Well that is unusual."  
>"What is it?" Rose was practically bouncing up and down, unable to contain her excitement.<br>"It's Mars."  
>"What's going on?" asked everyone else in varying degrees of interest and confusion.<br>"Look at Mars!" said Rose her voice was higher than normal and she was still buzzing with excitement. Caly shared a confused half glance with Scor before ducking back behind her telescope. Searching the sky she quickly found where Mars ought to be. She saw a faint red outline. Frowning she adjusted the focus and watched as the planted came into focus.

"What the-" she said, staring at it. All around the room there were varying cries of amazement and surprise.

There hanging in the night sky was Mars. A Mars that was on fire. It wasn't just red and looked like the colour, but it was literally burning in the sky. She could see the flames shooting off the sides and ending where the black sky began. It was like the sun but not. It was unlike anything she had ever seen and for a moment she was caught up in wonder, staring at a spectacle she was sure that she would only ever see once in her life. Then, as if the reality caught up with her, she ducked away from her telescope and turned back to her teacher.

Professor Overy looked back up from the telescope once more before turning to face her expectant class. "I believe what you have just witnessed is a spectacle. I believe that that was a sign, a prophecy if you wish." Caly could feel her eyebrows going up. She didn't think prophecies were real. She'd heard the story of Uncle Harry and the prophecies in that seemed self fulfilled. On hearing the prophecy Riddle had caused it to happen. She could see that she wasn't the only person looking at Overy sceptically. Scor had raised both his eyebrows, a sure sign of disbelief, and JP had turned to talk to Michael.  
>"That is a sign, danger is coming."<p>

"Well?" asked Al. They were sitting in the common room staring at the dieing embers of the fire. It was half past midnight. They'd just gotten back from Astronomy and whilst they were tired they were still buzzing with what she'd said. Scor shook his head.  
>"I don't think so. I mean, maybe if she was a seer, but she's just a Professor. I bet she hasn't got a clue what she was talking about. It's superstition, that's all."<br>"Prophecies exist!" countered Al.  
>"I'm not saying they don't but I don't think that was a prophecy. There was no seer, there were no words. All there was, was an unexplained phenomenon in the sky. We can't jump to conclusions!"<br>"What other explanation do you have! Dad said it too, danger is coming!"  
>"And what are we supposed to do when it does? Excuse me for not wanting to get quite as involved as last year!"<br>"You've just danced right around the point! You can't explain it!"  
>"It could have been the Martians." three heads turned to look at Caly who was sitting, her head resting wearily against the side of the armchair. Rose frowned from where she had gotten between Al and Scor, her arms slightly raised to try and keep them apart. Both of them had gotten to their feet without realising it. Al, too, looked confused but Scor burst into laughter. He put a hand over his face and dissolved into hysterics. Sinking into a crouched position so he was on the balls of his feet leaning on his heels, he continued. Caly raised an eyebrow a smile on her face as she watched him laugh.<p>

"It's not that funny." she said.  
>"Sorry." he said. "But seriously, right in the middle of our serious argument, you say 'It could have been the Martians'." Caly rolled her eyes as he continued to giggle. Rose and Al looked at each other, confused.<p>

"Err." said Rose. "Is there something we're missing."  
>"Oh." said Scor as he finally recovered. "Not really, just this kid at Caly's school who thought she was a Martian, 'cause you know." Al and Rose looked at her incredulously.<br>"You mean from Mars."  
>"Uh huh."<br>"Yeah but that's not the funniest bit." said Scor.  
>"It's not?" asked Al with barely concealed disbelief.<br>"No the funniest part is that _this_ guy taught her to play chess." Both Al and Rose took one look at Caly's completely normal expression and then burst out laughing too.

"Honestly." said Caly getting to her feet. "If you lot are done arguing I think I'm going to bed." Al reached out and pulled Scor to his feet.  
>"Sorry." he said.<br>"No problem."  
>"This is weird, us fighting, not you and Rose."<br>"Yes but it's not as enjoyable."  
>"Why didn't you get involved Rosie?" asked Al turning to his cousin.<br>"Because it's like you said Al, what'll come will come." Al's eyebrows went up.  
>"You actually remember me saying that."<br>"Al." said Caly from where she was standing near the stairs. "We will remember that always, it was a moment in history when you said something more profound then the rest of us."  
>"Oi!" Caly scarpered up the stairs in record speed and the others followed, aware that they had probably kept the rest of the tower awake.<p>

However as Caly turned over later that night she couldn't help but be worried. Was danger really coming? Were they really in trouble? She shifted in the bedclothes and tried to dispel the bad thoughts from her mind. There was no use worrying, yet.


	7. WSM

W.S.-M.

As October came and the leaves of the deciduous trees began to turn brown and fall, crisp, from the trees, Caly became ever more worried about the clue. The Quidditch season had kicked itself off to an explosive start with Hufflepuff beating Slytherin in the first came of the season by 150 points; 450-300, where in the game they had been tied on scoring until the snitch had been caught by Matilda Lorn from right under Hector Goyle's nose. But now that Quidditch took up so much of Scor, Al and Rose's time, Gryffindor practised four times a week, it was down to Caly to pour through old books of Wizarding genealogy in the Library and try to find a W.S.-M.

So far Caly had found _200_ possible matches for the name dating all the way back to Merlin's time to the present day. It was frustrating because there was no specification, no way of telling which W.S.-M. it was. She guessed she would have to search each one until she found the next clue, unless there was a short cut. Sighing Caly turned the pages and noted down the name of Wendovin Seriosis-Meer a magician from the 18th century who had been stoned by his own family for marrying a muggle. Ruffling her hair put a small mark next to his name. She didn't think that Wendovin was the W.S.-M. referred to.

The problem was, was that there weren't just wizards with the initials W.S.-M. She had come across 20 goblins and several Hogwarts house elves. The worst thing about looking at the name of the goblins was the acceptance of the possibility that -M. wasn't an initial but something else. For example there was the goblin Wodrik Sylaseen and next to his name -Mutilator, meaning his more commonly referred to as Wodrik the Mutilator. Yet his initials would be W.S.-M.

This made what McGonagall say float back across her mind.

"_Now these puzzles will be on anything, from the muggle and wizarding world"_

She dreaded to think of the muggles with the initials with W.S.-M. but if it was one then they'd have to have some connection to magic and be relatively famous. She spun her quill over in her hand trying to think of muggles with the initials W.S. and something to do with -M. However in all honesty the only one she could think of was….oh!

William Shakespeare! She sat up straight in her chair the wheels in her mind turning. William Shakespeare, that would be W.S. and he had a connection to the magical world. He wrote about witches in Macbeth; -M. Besides it was a play so the clue was likely to be in the famous lines of the witches. What was it?

_Double, double toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble. Loads of random stuff to do with animal parts interspersed with the main chorus._

Standing up Caly walked over to Madame Pince. Madame Pince was very old and hobbled round the library with the aid of a stick and whacked anyone on the back of the head with it who she thought could be defacing her precious books. However she was a good librarian and knew the location of every single book and which might be useful for studying and extension work and such.

"Madame Pince?" Madame Pince looked up at her through reading glasses that had incredibly thick lenses.  
>"Yes?"<br>"I need Macbeth by Shakespeare." she said politely. Madame Pince got to her feet slowly and hobbled across to the 'Muggle' shelves. In here were all the great works of Muggle writers; Dickens, Austen, Hardy, the Brontë sisters and, of course, Shakespeare. Madame Pince pulled a thick hardback volume from one of the shelves. The spine read 'The Complete Works of Shakespeare'. Caly smiled.  
>"Thank you."<p>

Dashing back to the table Caly opened the book and flipped to Macbeth searching for the witches speech. Scanning the pages she read;

_1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.  
>2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.<br>3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!  
>1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;<br>In the poison'd entrails throw.—  
>Toad, that under cold stone,<br>Days and nights has thirty-one;  
>Swelter'd venom sleeping got,<br>Boil thou first i' the charmed pot! s  
>ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;<br>Fire burn, and caldron bubble.  
>2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,<br>In the caldron boil and bake;  
>Eye of newt, and toe of frog,<br>Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,  
>Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,<br>Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—  
>For a charm of powerful trouble,<br>Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.  
>ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;<br>Fire burn, and caldron bubble.  
>3 WITCH. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;<br>Witches' mummy; maw and gulf  
>Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;<br>Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;  
>Liver of blaspheming Jew;<br>Gall of goat, and slips of yew  
>Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;<br>Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;  
>Finger of birth-strangled babe<br>Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—  
>Make the gruel thick and slab:<br>Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,  
>For the ingrediants of our caldron.<br>ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;  
>Fire burn, and caldron bubble.<br>2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,  
>Then the charm is firm and good. <em>

Well this was going to be interesting thought Caly, gently massaging her temples. She somehow had to work out the message in all of that. Sighing she scribbled it down onto another piece of parchment, maybe Scor and Rose would be able to see something in this. Getting to her feet she walked back to the common room stopping once to talk, briefly, to Professor Longbottom.

Her bag swung from left shoulder and she clutched the piece of parchment with the speech in her right. She couldn't help but wonder whether or not this was a fair competition. No matter how much she hated the Slytherins, she couldn't help but think that it was a tad unfair using muggle things like that. How many of the Slytherins were going to have heard of him? The only people that read the muggle books were Ravenclaws or bored Hufflepuffs. If Scor were here he'd scoff very loudly and Rose and Al would roll their eyes and call her 'saint'. That made her smile a bit. She liked knowing that she was close to her friends. That she was so close to her friends that she could predict their reactions, it made her feel… strange inside, warm and contented. A feeling she was slowly becoming accustomed to.

"Hey Caly." Al landed on the sofa next to her a cheerful smile on his face.  
>"Hey! What's up with you?" she looked at him a confused smile spreading across her face.<br>"We're going to kick ass in our first game of the season! Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw and we're going to win!" Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"You were going to win anyway. You guys are awesome! It's like a family team; you, Rose, Scor, Fred, Kay and Maise. You trained over the summer! But anyway I have better news."<br>"What?" asked Al. The tone of his voice making it clear that he thought nothing was more important than Quidditch.  
>"I think I'll wait till Scor and Rose are here. Where are they?" she looked around the common room but couldn't see them.<br>"I don't know they went for a walk." Caly raised her eyebrows.  
>"A walk?" she asked.<br>"I know, they just said that they wanted a walk. I think Rose wanted to talk to him." Caly froze slightly at that. Rose wanted to talk to Scor. Was she going to talk to him about his past? Scor didn't like to be pressed. He had to let it out, he couldn't be asked about it, asked for details. It made him retract. It scared him.

Blinking slightly, she pretended to shrug it off smiling a little at Al.  
>"Well what's the betting they'll come back not talking?" Al snorted.<br>"50." there was a pause then Al spoke again. "You know the Slytherins." Caly raised an eyebrow at that and mmhmmed.  
>"Of course I do." she added.<br>"Yeah whatever the point is, is that. Well, do you know if Scor has been talking to them?" Caly looked at Al in confusion; what had made him ask her that?  
>"What?" she asked.<br>"I know it sounds weird but I just, there's something wrong with him and I know there's all that stuff in his past that he'll tell us about eventually but I couldn't help wonder if maybe the Slytherins had been taunting him some more. Or if he'd gone to talk them about it. I mean whatever happened, they were there, right?" Caly made a non-committal movement with her head and Al continued anyway. "So I just wondered if maybe he'd talked to you about it?"  
>"What makes you think he's talked to me?"<br>"Because if I had a big problem I'd go to you and you're much more perceptive than us." Caly raise an eyebrow.  
>"I wouldn't say that."<br>"Maybe perceptive wasn't the word I wanted but I think it was. Anyway you know what I meant." Caly nodded she had understood what he'd been trying to say.  
>"No he hasn't said anything to me about meeting Slytherins." which, thought Caly, was completely true. "But if he had I wouldn't tell you." Al nodded and stared at James who was talking to a large crowd of first years. Caly looked at James and then back at Al. She still couldn't figure out their relationship, on one level they were incredibly close and they loved each other dearly but on the other they were each others worst enemies and loathed the others different personality.<p>

Caly found that in the Potter/Weasley family that she was included in, she was one of the few people that really got on with James, that didn't like causing trouble, and she suspected that was largely to do with the fact that shortly after they had first met they had both nearly been killed. James may not show it but he did care for people rather deeply and after what had happened on the steps Caly had absolutely no doubt that James felt a need to protect her. However there were very few people out of his family that knew this, the school knew the loud boy that loved chess and had already had too many girlfriends to count at 13.

She glanced back at Al who was looking highly bored. He had taken out a piece of parchment to make a start on his History of Magic of essay but had barely written three lines. Al had a completely contrasting personality to James. In essence Caly and Al were friends because they wanted to be. They were friends because they liked each other. Al was one of those people that was quite hard to describe. He was definitely quiet but at the same time he was chatty. He was shy but he loved messing around with them at the end of the day in the common room. He was also quite smart, he could certainly cope with the work that was set but he looked a lot worse because of Scor and Rose. He only out shone them all in DADA where sheer natural ability overwhelmed bookish learning's.

Scor and Rose returned after 20 minutes of Al and Caly struggling away with their History of Magic essay. They'd written the first two paragraphs but they kept getting distracted whenever there was something they didn't understand and neither of them could be bothered, Al because he was tired from Quidditch and Caly because she was being lazy, to climb up to their dormitory to retrieve the textbook. In the end they guessed the answers. Some of Al's were rather wild, like the giants died out because they realised they smelt bad, which caused them to dissolve into hysterics. People kept throwing them odd looks, mainly because they wanted to know but couldn't ask how they were doing in the competition. The House's reputation was riding on it and right now it really looked like they were slacking, of course they had no way of knowing that Caly had the next clue in her bag.

Rose and Scor were, amazingly, still talking when they came into the common. In fact they were laughing, Scor's cheeks, which went pink in the cold, were now a deep red and Rose had a dimple in one cheek. Scor was talking in an animated fashion that Caly had not seen him do in ages. He was using his gloved hands to illustrate a point and Rose was gazing at him completely intent, absorbed in whatever he was saying. They didn't appear to look at Al or Caly, or give any sign that they had seen them, but somehow they wondered over and sat down next to them. Rose bent double laughing and Scor pulled off his gloves and scarf with a big grin, watching her laugh.

"So?" said Al finally breaking the silence that had arisen between the four of them. Rose was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "What was so funny?"  
>"Nothing." said Scor. Then seeing Al's mildly hurt, disbelieving look he said. "It's nothing, just something that happened to me when I was a kid. It's a long story though, I'll tell you later if you want." Al nodded and scribbled something down on his piece of paper in an attempt to alleviate the sudden awkward atmosphere. He did a flourish and then looked at Caly.<p>

"So what was your big news?"  
>"What?" she said. She'd been staring at the ceiling trying to think what Rose and Scor were talking about that had lead them onto a hilarious anecdote from his childhood. Scor had never told her anything like that.<br>"You said you had big news, what is it?"  
>"Oh." said Caly, suddenly remembering the clue and everything. "Well." she said an excited smile spreading across her face. "I think I found the next clue." There was a seconds pause then her friends all broke into excited chatter at once.<p>

"What?"  
>"How?"<br>"Well what is it?" Caly pulled out the sheaf of parchment from her bag and showed it to her friends.

After they had read it several times. Al handed it back to Caly.

"What the hell is that?" he asked looking completely confused.  
>"Is that famous?" asked Rose. She looked like it was vaguely familiar to her but couldn't place it. Scor just looked plaintive and thoughtful.<br>"It's an excerpt from a muggle play." said Caly grinning at her friends. "It's by William Shakespeare." Rose's mouth fell into an 'o' and Scor and Al just nodded understanding the link. "And the name is Macbeth. As you read that is the Witches speech. It's really famous. I'm pretty sure all muggles know 'double double toil and trouble fire burn and cauldron bubble' even if they may not know where it's from."  
>"So what's the clue?" asked Al.<br>"Well." said Caly, pulling a face. "I'm not really sure. I think it's hidden in the mumbo jumbo." Scor reached over and plucked it from her fingers. Re-reading it he eventually spoke.  
>"Does this actually make a potion?" Caly gaped at him, unable to believe that <em>she <em>hadn't thought of that.  
>"I…I have no idea." she said with a frown. Snatching the paper back she scanned the parchment, wishing that she had a highlighter because honestly that was something muggles had over wizards.<p>

"Well?" asked Rose curiously.  
>"I don't know, not that I can think of. I could try it." she suggested quite hopefully. Scor rolled his eyes.<br>"Let's keep that as a back up." he said. Turning to Rose he said "Can you think of anything?"  
>"I'm not sure. I think that we need some time to riddle this one out."<br>"Maybe Caly should try the potion, anyway." suggested Al. "We need all the help that we can get."  
>"I think that we can start work tomorrow." said Rose. "I need to do my homework and I'm really tired."<p>

The next day which was Sunday, saw the four of them splitting. After completing their work, and the Quidditch training Caly went down to her dungeon whilst the others headed off to the library to try and gain some meaning from the speech. Caly was well aware of the pressure that was mounting on her and the fact that, as of the start of this competition, she had not spoken to Dom. That made her sad, the thought that something so insignificant could take apart her friendships. Yet at the same time she reminded herself that she was lucky to have friendships.

Her dungeon remained the same as ever. Small and relatively unused. Last year she hadn't been able to go into it, it was right across the hall from 6, and this year she had barely had the time. Now she bent down and opened the ingredients cupboard and was pleased to find it very well stocked, it seemed that Slughorn overestimated her love for Potions. Sorting through the ingredients she began to take out the things that she needed for the potion. She was incredibly surprised to find that they actually had everything in there. Then she reminded herself that it was a clue. They must have guessed that she would try and brew, and maybe the Ravenclaws would too, they'd have to have the ingredients. That was the only explanation for having 'Preserved Toad that Spent 31 days Under Cold Stone'.

There weren't many instructions for brewing in the poem, so she read it through carefully and then made a method of what she thought it meant. This basically entailed putting what came first in the excerpt in the cauldron first. Caly rolled up her sleeves and picked up the dead cat, that made her feel a bit sick, that had flecks of grey in it's fur and had cried three times before dieing.

After half an hour in which a rainbow of vapours had filled the dungeon Caly had finished the potion. Frowning down at she noted that her knowledge in this area of Potion making was incredibly hazy. Here was a potion that could be anything, what on earth was she supposed to do with it? The way it had turned acid green when on a low flame that at one point it was poisonous, the clear vapours rising from it suggested a sleeping solution of some kind but that contrasted with the black surface that looked like something that belonged to a healing potion. She wondered if there was something that she could test it on. Maybe if she went to Professor Slughorn he'd transform some mice for her, or maybe Professor Longbottom would be a better bet.

Caly wasn't a naturally suspicious person but now that she had this unknown, potentially lethal potion that was also a key clue in the competition sitting in her dungeon she wasn't just going to leave it sitting around. She decanted it out into three vials, she put two in her pockets, and one in the cabinet. She put a cover on the cauldron and then left the dungeon, locking the door behind her. Looking left and right to make sure that there was no one around she headed off towards… Coming to a halt she realised she had yet to decide where she was going. She would normally go to her friends, but this was Transfiguration too complex for Rose. Professor Liann was a no, she was scary and they were still on weird ground. Slughorn, Flitwick and Sprout, again, were nos, because they were the heads of rival houses. She could go to Professor Longbottom he liked her, though she wasn't good at Defence Against the Dark Arts. However she didn't know whether he was allowed to help her. Who did that leave? And then the answer came to her. Freddie!

Freddie, and his friends, were sixth years and not the sort she would usually go to for help but they were the only ones in her house that were old enough to be doing that kind of Transfiguration. Freddie had a sort of laid back, act now think later attitude that was similar to his father, his dead uncle and James. Unlike James he was capable of keeping a girlfriend, though. Things had settled down since last year, and Olive and Fred were now a steady solid couple, she was accepted by his friends, including Maise who had got over him by dating Kay Wood. It was strange and Caly couldn't get her head around the whole dating complex of the older years. The girls always seemed to scream and cat fight with their best friends and the boys cracked their knuckles and hollered and then forgave each other by the next week.

However this was beside the point, Caly got on good with Freddie and knew that he would help her. The only problem would be locating him. There were the places he wouldn't be; the library but that left just about everywhere else. He could be in the common room, making a ruckus with his friends and demonstrating his dads, and sometimes his, new products. The four of them were all big Quidditch freaks and they could be, especially if they were with Olive, down by the Quidditch pitch messing around. Or they could be running riot around the school, tricking the ghosts into following the Headmistress, terrorising the portraits, creating elaborate schemes that meant if any Slytherin stepped on the fifth step on the Marble staircase they fell through and into a broom cupboard, no one knew how they'd done that, and just generally destroying peace.

Setting her face into a frown she set off out of the dungeons, it was quiet down there and she was pretty sure she was the only one there. A part of her seriously considered going to find James and asking for his map to locate them but finding James was almost as hard. Him and Colin liked to run around causing just as much damage, especially since Uncle George sent them prototype graffiti quills, it meant that they wrote on walls in spray paint and would become bolder if you tried to rub them off but they did disappear after awhile. That, or, he would be out in the grounds or the Forest with the Scarmander twins. Caly had no idea why they were friends, she had grasped from general conversation that their mother was a close family friend and that James had grown up with them. Still she wasn't sure why he tolerated them, he wasn't the most tolerant person and they seemed to occupy their own universe sometimes. Caly had yet to have a conversation with either of them that she could wrap her head around. Caly guessed that the main thing in their friendship was time, they were like brothers, they'd known each other so long. All their lives. They may be different but life without each other would be weird.

The sprawling grounds were empty, this much was clear to Caly, as she stood by a second floor window. There were no crazy blurs on the Quidditch, darting all over the place. There was also no one in the grounds or by the edge of the forest. Not even Hagrid. Sighing she pushed herself up from the window sill, wiping back some loose hair she wondered where she should go next. The Slytherins were the prime targets of the pranks pulled by Freddie and the others, she could try back down by the dungeons on the other side. She checked her scrappy watch, she'd been away from the others for about 40 minutes. She had said she'd meet them in the library after an hour, that left 20 minutes. Turning away from the window her hand went to her pocket to check that the vials were still in tact. Satisfied, she began to walk away.

The dungeons that housed the Slytherin common room were creepy. Everything down this way seemed to be tinged with a green, Caly hazarded a guess that they were underneath the lake. She also felt uneasy, completely like she was in enemy territory. She hadn't felt this uneasy since her last day of school in year 6. She had never been around the Slytherins alone, and whilst they didn't have a direct problem with her, she knew that she certainly didn't want to walk into Nott, Zabini, Pucey, Bletchley or Vaisy here alone. She wasn't exactly protected. Well she could punch them, that had proved highly effective last-

"What are you doing?" she spun on the spot, her robes clinking. What she saw before her made something sink in her stomach and fear pool into her chest. Standing before were the five Slytherins she had dreaded meeting.  
>"I… I..I'm looking for Fred." A disbelieving look slid onto all of their faces and Bletchley stepped forward, somewhere inside herself she wondered if he was the leader. She made a note to subtly question Scor on this if he ever brought them up again.<br>"Why would he be down here?"  
>"Because he's always pranking you." she had her response was ready, and they seemed very surprised that she was being honest with them.<br>"They're not here." Bletchley spoke so coldly when it wasn't necessary, she thought, then Caly realised that he thought it was necessary she was a mud… a mudblood.  
>"Oh." she said, trying to think, pulling herself along her thought process. "Well, I'll be going then." her fake smile, was completely unnecessary. She wasn't Scor, or even Al and Rose. They didn't want her 'friendship'. Vaisy giggled. Caly sent her a disgusted look. It was the best, and only good, thing about sharing a dorm with only Rose; there were no stupid giggling girls.<br>"Well that's understandable." said Nott. "However, we have you where we want you." If Caly hadn't been scared until then, which she had been, she was terrified now.

"_We have you right where we want you."  
><em>"_But I swear!"  
><em>"_You're lying. You're a coward."  
><em>"_Oh look the baby's crying!"  
><em>"_I swear! Please don't hurt me!" _

_Pain. _

_Crack!_

_Blackness_

"_Oh my god! Oh my god! What happens if she doesn't wake up? We'll be done for murder!"  
><em>"_Don't be a prat! There's an ambulance coming she'll be fine. Those adults are coming over and those kids that aren't from round here can keep an eye on her. She'll be fine. Let's just get out of here!" _

_Blackness_

_Sirens_

"_Can you hear me? I need you to stay awake for me. I need you to keep your eyes open."…"Come on, no, come on that's it. No, get her loaded on quickly!"_

_Blackness_

"_It's okay. You're safe. You've taken a nasty injury to the back of your head. Your spleen is ruptured. Your rib cage is fractured. You'll need surgery. Immediately." _

_Blackness_

Caly backed up, trying not to hyperventilate. She had no idea what to do. Five on one was a bad situation even for a fully powerful wizard. There seemed to be no way out of this situation, any Slytherin that passed was likely to let the situation continue. Her only hope was that some teacher or prefect came past and put a stop to it. Her breathing was spiralling, and she could see the looks being exchanged between the Slytherins. They were confused, they had no idea what was going on. They didn't think that they were that terrifying. It was almost like they were trying to work out whether this was a good thing.

"Oi!" a shout echoed up and down the dungeon corridor that made the six of them jump. Coming towards was, not a prefect or a teacher, but something that was close enough for Caly and the others. Fred was striding down the corridor, he looked angry staring down at the Slytherins, making them all shrink, except for Bletchley who stood up to him. "I don't know what you think you're doing but I can tell you this; leave Caly alone!" Caly was still backed into the wall, fighting for control of her breathing. Bletchley snorted.  
>"Says who? You've got no authority, you may be famous in your little world but down here your name is mud." Fred squared is shoulders, straightening, he stared Bletchley down from his full height.<br>"Is that a challenge?" It seemed to take them all a second to work out what Fred was saying. She could have sworn that she heard Nott groan. "Go!" they left and as they scarped off they heard Nott saying.  
>"What did you do that for? We won't have peace for a month!"<br>"Someone had to show him."  
>"Well you did a brilliant job of that!"<p>

Caly didn't move until the echoes had faded.

"Caly?" Freddie was looking at her in a concerned way she had never seen him wear. "What's…" he began to ask the question she was dreading than he looked around. "Let's get out of here." he beckoned to her and she slowly walked over to him. Freddie, had inherited the tall gangly Weasley genes, he towered over Caly and found when she reached him practically swamped her in a hug. She rested her head on his chest and just trembled completely overwhelmed by everything. How close she'd come to being attacked, how scared she'd felt, how lucky it was that Freddie came, how relieved she was and of course how panicked she was about being cornered like that in styles far too reminiscent of her childhood.

"Alright?" asked Fred when she stepped back.  
>"Yeah." she said tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.<br>"Cool!" he said. "Let's go." grabbing her hand he began to drag her out of the dungeons. The great thing about Fred was that he wasn't about to pry into other people's business. This made her really grateful because it meant she could just go and talk to Scor, which is what she wanted more than anything else in the world right now.

They stopped running when they came out into the Entrance Hall. Freddie, for reasons Caly would rather not know, could navigate the winding passages like the back of his hand, successfully steering her round every corner, meaning that it took less than two minutes to reach a stand still. In the Entrance Hall, standing by the marble staircase, was Nick Jordan. He looked wholly surprised to see her with Fred but, after blinking looking at Freddie with raised eyebrows and then blinking at her again, he waved at her with a small smile.

"Whatcha doing down there?" he asked as he sauntered across the hall to where Fred was still holding Caly's hand in a comforting way. Hearing these words he turned to her, a frown puckering his forehead.

"Caly the Slytherins really don't like you… or Scor, even Dom and Molly have noticed that. So what on earth possessed you to wonder off into their dungeons?" Fred sounded uncharacteristically serious. Caly looked up, wide eyed, not sure what to say and surprised to have provoked such a response.  
>"I… I was… I was looking for you." she stuttered out. Fred's eyebrows went up and he exchanged a confused glance with Nick. "And you thought we'd be in the Slytherin dungeons?" he asked.<br>"Well you were. I thought you might be there to prank them." she argued, feeling better now, and beginning to resent being treated like a five year old.  
>"Got to give the kid credit." said Nick. "She certainly has you sussed." Fred glowered at him, causing both Nick and Caly to frown. Caly dropped her hand from his and took a step back.<br>"Look I just needed your help with something important! It couldn't wait! Yes maybe it wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had to wonder off into the Slytherin dungeons but I'm fine! Can you please just help me!" there was a brief pause after Caly's outburst in which she wondered what on earth had caused her to shout like that. She was breathing heavily and could feel emotions running rampage through her body.  
>"Okay." said Fred. "What is it?"<br>"Can you turn something into a mouse for me?" and then, slowly, Fred's characteristic, patented Weasley smirk slid back onto his face.  
>"Oh yes I can. Oh yes indeed."<p>

Caly hurried into the library with her hands tightly cupped shut. Emitting from within her hands were faint squeaks of protest, the only thing to suggest that there was a real live mouse hidden there. Other occupants turned to stare curiously at her but quickly dismissed it; most had learned long ago that there wasn't a single person in or close to the Potter/Weasley family that was normal. Some put on a very good act but once you got a little closer you saw the madness with in.

"Caly!" she had been spotted by Scor who was standing up from where he'd been sitting. Hurrying over to them she smiled, glad to be back with her friends in a safe environment.  
>"What kept you?" asked Al looking up from the piece of paper before him. "We were just about to go look for you." Caly made a non-committal gesture with her head.<br>"Had a run in with some Slytherins." she said, surprised by the casual tone in her voice.  
>"What?" Scor was looking at her with grey eyes filled with worry. She could see the alarm that had flitted across Al's face and how Rose's head had jolted upwards in panic.<br>"I'm fine, Freddie saved me." All three of her friends stared at her, unsure whether she was telling the truth. Exchanging a look between them they silently decided to drop the topic of conversation and move on with the clue.

"So does it make a potion?" asked Rose folding her arms on top of a stack of books and resting her chin on them, gazing at Caly as she stood at the corner of the table.  
>"Yes." the others looked at each other excitedly. "But." Scor rolled his eyes. "I don't know what." This time they all rolled their eyes.<br>"Did you expect to?" asked Rose. Caly frowned.  
>"What?"<br>"Did you expect to know what the potion was after you'd made it?"  
>"I… I guess." Rose and Scor shared an exasperated look whilst Al banged his head on the stack of books next to him. "What is it?"<br>"Caly you're good at potions but you're not _that_ good." said Scor. He shared another look with Rose and both of them seemed to be searching for the right words to say here.  
>"Everything you do works off instinct, right?" Caly nodded. "Well if you have no instincts, you can't work." Caly frowned.<br>"Am I the only one that doesn't get that?" she asked.  
>"Nope I'm a little lost too." said Al. "But I don't think it's important, right now. We can address Caly's over inflated head another time, let's just work out what it is." The others nodded.<p>

"I think." said Caly. "I'm a step ahead of you there."  
>"How?" asked Scor.<br>"Well I ran into the Slytherins because I went looking for Freddie, I wanted him to conjure me a mouse." Three pairs of eyes darted to her cupped hands.  
>"I can see where you stand on potion-animal testing." said Scor after a pause. Rose rolled her eyes and spoke in a business like tone.<br>"So I take it you haven't tested it out yet?"  
>"Nope." she said, popping the 'p' slightly.<br>"Good, we can try it now."

Caly opened her hands and released the mouse onto the desk top. Crowding around so Madame Pince wouldn't see, they walled it in with books.  
>"Now I suggest Caly, you pick the mouse up and pour the potion carefully into it's mouth." Rose gave the orders and the others shrugged and obeyed. Caly recaptured the poor mouse, hoping against hope that this potion didn't do anything harmful. Al, being closest, slipped a hand into her pocket and took out one of the vials. Uncorking it he passed it to Caly. Taking it in her right hand, she gently but firmly held the struggling mouse in her left, and poured a couple of drops down it's throat.<p>

The effect was instantaneous. The mouse, in short, went wild. It began to writhe in her hand and bite and scratch to the extent that it was beginning to draw blood. It took a great effort on Caly's part not to drop the mouse, for she was in a considerable amount of pain. Al, Scor and Rose all panicked, none of them having a clue what to do. Scor grabbed a heavy anthology from the desk and brought it down on her hands in an attempt to kill the mouse but instead it just collided with her knuckles causing Caly to yell out in pain and stumble backwards. Several people gave them reproachful looks but no one came over and told them to stop.

Rose had snatched another book from the desk and obviously intending to use her beaters skills, made her way towards Caly. By now the noises that the mouse was making _was _attracting a fair bit of attention. A few people had stopped studying to watch whatever-was-going-on-that-they-couldn't-really see-but-looked-more-interesting-than-their-essay. However before Rose could potentially damage Caly's knuckles again, the mouse twisted it's head round in a way that she hadn't thought was possible and bit down, hard. Blood oozed onto her hands from the mouse's neck and she felt the body go limp.

There was silence in the library. Rose still had the book raised above her head. Al had a hand outstretched to Rose. Scor was halfway between them and the desk, frozen in the act of running. Caly stood shocked, hands drenched in blood. And despite the situation it sparked something, something in her mind.

"Caly, let's go." it was Al, he was looking around at all the curiously watching spectators with a nervous look. She nodded and Scor stepped forwards, his hands stretching out. For a moment his hands were clasped over hers, and they felt warm for a completely different reason but then he removed them, mouse miraculously removed from her grip and the warmth faded fast. She found herself shaking. This just wasn't her day.

They walked out of the library, weird looks following them. Whispers were common in the library and whatever they may have been doing had gotten around. Scor and Al stopped in the nearest boys bathroom whilst Rose lead Caly into the girls.

Caly stood by the sink for fifteen minutes, furiously washing her hands, Rose leaning against the neighbouring one acting as if this was completely normal. She was glad of the silence. She wasn't sure why the sight of blood had shaken her so much. Maybe it was because after being reminded of all that, seeing something die, seeing something kill itself from something she'd made, she'd _fed_ it. It made her feel unclean and dirty, it didn't matter that she used dead animals in potions, she ate meat, actually killing something or being responsible was horrible; even if it was a mouse. Then there were her thoughts, that she hadn't been sad immediately, she'd just seen the link.

An unusually sombre air accompanied the four of them back to Gryffindor tower. They sat down in armchairs in the corner and seemed to have nothing to say. They all knew that they ought to, needed to, bring up the clue but none of them had the energy, the will. Eventually Scor looked up at Caly.

"What happened when you ran into the Slytherins?"  
>"Nothing." she said immediately.<br>"Don't mess with me Caly." he said tersely. Al and Rose watched them, cautious of the atmosphere. Caly sighed.  
>"They just asked me why I was there. I said I was looking for Freddie. They asked why there and I said because he always pranked them. Then I tried to leave but they said they had me…" she hiccoughed slightly. "They had me right where they wanted me." Scor's hands balled themselves into fists. Rose and Al were exchanging alarmed expressions.<br>"Then I flashed." Both Al and Rose frowned, unfamiliar with the terminology being used, because they knew it couldn't mean the literal sense. Scor looked alarmed  
>now, his body still tense from anger. He mouthed the words, she had just said a frown on his face.<br>"No." Caly nodded. He buried his head in his hands. "This is bad." he muttered to his knees. "This is really bad. This is really, really, really, _really_ bad! Now they know your weakness." Al and Rose looked at each other pretty sure now that there was another conversation going on here that they didn't know about. What weakness?

"You think I don't know that!" Caly's voice had risen. Everyone jumped, still unaccustomed to Caly loosing her temper. Caly hated losing her temper because it was associated with doing magic. When she'd suppressed the magic she had never lost her temper again. Now her temper was coming back, but not the magic. The stress of today was showing in her face, she looked tired but ready for a fight. "You think I'm happy about this! The Slytherins know my weakness! Now they have another thing up on me, whoop-dee-doo!" there was a silence. All of them were painfully aware of how this was turning into the foursomes second proper row in a month.

"Well you know what!" shouted Scor deciding to plough on. "I couldn't care less! I'm so tired of this!"  
>"Of what?" Caly yelled back, both of them standing inches from each others face. Al and Rose didn't intervene, neither had any idea what they were rowing about. "Of running to me for help! Of crying on my shoulder! Of me keeping your secrets!"<br>"Of you being stupid!" he screamed back at her. Their row was now beginning to attract attention. James was rising from his chair and Freddie and his friends were watching the scene unfold. Roxie, who had just come in with Jay Wood, walked across to him and asked to be filled in. "Have you got any idea what kind of line I am walking!"  
>"Yes as a matter of fact I do! As a matter of fact I told you! If you weren't so self absorbed you might of heard but I think your ego was blocking your ears!"<br>"My ego!" he said derisively. "Your heads so inflated you think you can walk wherever you want!"  
>"Because I should be able to!" Scor stared at her as if he had no words to articulate how he was feeling. As if he wanted to scream. The entire common room was watching them.<br>"You don't understand!" he said his voice low and each syllable punctuated.  
>"Well maybe if you just explained! Or are you trying to pretend I'm from a wizarding family! Trying to pretend you aren't such a <em>screw up<em>!" the moment the words had left her mouth Caly knew it was a low blow and no matter what he had said he hadn't deserved that. He shoved her out of the way and stormed up the boys staircase. There was a ringing silence. Caly could feel the tears building in her eyes as the whispers started. Rose had risen from her chair but Caly turned away from her comforting hand. Rose let her go casting a desperate look at Al who was gazing at the boys staircase with a sad expression.

Caly entered her Rose's dorm with the tears flowing down her face. Sobbing she rushed around the blurred room, throwing off her robes and pulling on some pyjamas. She looked at herself in the mirror as she frantically brushed her teeth barely recognising the girl that was reflected in the glass. A girl with messy brown, red eyes, tear tracks running down her face and snot around her nose. She washed her face but it barely did any good. As she climbed into bed she turned over knowing that in the tower next door was Scor. She buried her head in her pillow as her sobbing became gradually slower.

When Rose came up half an hour later she found Caly fast asleep but her face was pained. The frown was etched deeply into her forehead and Rose just knew that in her sleep Caly was trying to wish herself back in time and make it all better. The last thing she saw was a piece of parchment in Caly's handwriting that read

_The Lady Macbeth_


	8. DrowningFlowers FallingStar SoaringLions

Drowning Flowers, Falling Star, Soaring Lions

The following morning, a Monday, was a terrible day for Caly. Firstly she woke up late and saw, to her immense disappointment, that Rose had already gone. Was her terrible jab against Scor going to cost her all her friends? She dressed in a hurry and didn't notice that she had odd socks on or that her tie wasn't done up properly. Her robes, which were second hand anyway, seemed to look more ragged once paired with her unkempt hair and pale complexion.

As she hurried into the Great Hall she was greeted with a lot of muttering from the occupants of the Gryffindor table. She guessed this had a lot to do, not just the fact that they had argued, but what they had argued about. Looking back on the argument Caly wished she could take back a hell of a lot of it. Though she was still a little cross with Scor, she wanted to take back what she'd said because she felt bad about betraying a secret like that over a few seconds of hot-headed anger and raging emotions. Caly knew the only reason that she'd fired up at that was because she'd not been having a good, all the kick she'd got out of finding out about the clue had evaporated and she'd gone from bad to worse.

Her eyes scanned the table for Rose or Al and found Rose sitting all alone, reading a copy of _The Prophet_, whilst sipping pumpkin juice. Caly looked up and down the table but couldn't see Scor or Al. Sighing she assumed that Al was with Scor, that seemed fair enough. Making her way over to Rose she sat down opposite her. Rose lay down _The Prophet_ and examined Caly with a frown.

"You look terrible." she said. Caly rolled her eyes but didn't smile. Rose tilted her head to the side. "How do you feel?" Caly shrugged.  
>"Tired, worn out, empty." she listed in a bored voice, reaching for a piece of toast. Rose continued to stare at her.<br>"Caly I want you to know that you can talk to me." Caly looked up at Rose. Rose looked deadly serious and Caly decided not to interrupt her speech. "I know that I may not get things as well as Scor did, me and Al don't exactly come from the same background as either of you but we are your best friends and we care about you. You need to vent Caly, what happens if you don't was demonstrated yesterday." Caly set down her fork where she'd been starting on her eggs.  
>"I don't normally… I mean I feel my emotions but I… I can always control them."<br>"I think that should be I _could_ always control them." Rose looked at Caly sympathetically. "Things are changing. I mean you're in a magical environment, exposed to something that you're used to suppressing, maybe it's slowly having an effect. Also we're changing Caly." she shook her head. "You should have heard the conversation my mum gave me." This time Caly managed a weak smile.  
>"I think I know <em>exactly <em>what that was about." Then the smile fell from her face. "But what made you say that?"  
>"What?"<br>"The thing about you and Al." she said. Rose shrugged.  
>"Common sense. C'mon you may not have finished but we <em>can't<em> be late for Liann." the two of them got up and Rose let her mind wander back to the brief conversation that had taken place last night.

* * *

><p><em>Rose whirled around the moment that Caly had disappeared. Everyone had begun to talk amongst themselves, eagerly devouring this juicy bit of gossip. Al was still staring sadly at the entrance to the boys dormitory as if wishing Scor to come back down and fix it all. <em>

_"Well?" she demanded of her cousin. Al looked at her.  
>"Well what?" he asked.<br>"Have you got any idea what is going on?" Al shook his head, the mournful expression never leaving his face. "But you must have-"  
>"He said no, Rosie." James, Roxie and Freddie had all come over from where they had been with their friends to the two cousins. Rose huffed and made a move towards the spiral staircase to their dormitories but James stepped in front of her. "Leave Caly alone for now. She's upset, I think it's best if we leave her." Rose came very close to pouting as she sunk into the chair. She had only let her go because she had thought it would be better to see if she could find out anything and then go comfort her.<em>

_"So none of you know what that was about?" asked Roxie. They all shook their heads. Then Freddie, who once again looked uncharacteristically serious, said.  
><em>_"Maybe she's just frustrated. She wasn't happy earlier when I asked her what possessed her to go wondering into the Slytherin dungeons alone." James frowned deeply.  
><em>_"Doesn't sound like her."  
><em>_"No it wasn't, she had a little shout but she calmed down and we changed topic. She wanted me to conjure a mouse for her." Rose and Al shared a look. _

_"What happened in the library?" asked Roxie. "Because I was in there with Dom and I, well we didn't see anything but we heard whispers that you four had been up to something. That there was blood." Rose rolled her eyes and Al rubbed his forehead.  
><em>_"We can't say." he said. "Not really, but your mouse didn't live long Freddie. It killed itself whilst Caly was holding it and whatever happened was pretty… freaky. She was shaken up by it." Rose nodded.  
><em>_"Then we came back here and Scor asked what had actually happened when she'd run into the Slytherins. She said that they spoke and then the Slytherins said that they had Caly where they wanted her, and that really spooked her out. Scor was getting all angry. Then she said that she." Rose looked at Al. "That she 'flashed', we don't know what that means, and then the whole argument started by Scor saying that was really bad and that Slytherins knew her weakness." There was a general pause in which the five relatives stood there trying to asses the situation they had before them. _

_"This could blow over." said James. "I don't think she'll hold a grudge, she's seems really upset about arguing." Al threw his brother a withering look.  
><em>_"Of course this won't blow over." he said. "Caly and Scor were…tight. They got each other. Remember first day on the train." he directed this to Rose who looked blank. "Caly jumped straight to his aid, despite the fact she barely knew him. There was, like, instant." and he snapped his fingers. "Connection. And then this year on the train." This time Rose seemed to have a better idea of what he was talking about. She nodded her head.  
>"With Fawkes, we had no idea what was going but Scor just knew."<br>_"_Also I think that if any gets what Scor went through as a kid it's probably Caly." Rose stared at him. He looked mournful once more.  
><em>_"Wait what?" said Freddie. "What did Scor go through as a child?" Al shrugged.  
><em>_"Apart from being hated by most of the wizarding world including his father, I've no idea." and whilst the others thought he was being sarcastic, Rose knew he was being honest. "That all leads." continued Al after a while of silence. "In short, to one thing. The unspeakable blow Caly dealt him." There was a pause.  
>"It was low." said James. "To compare him to pureblood people, to say that he might want to be like his father." they continued to nod. <em>

"_Is there anything we can do?" asked Roxie. She looked desperate to help. Al shook his head again.  
><em>_"I think we're just going to have to wait for this to die down a bit, for Scor to be ready to accept an apology."  
><em>_"Wait." said James. "Why is Scor getting an apology?"  
><em>_"Because, you can't deny he deserves it most and he won't ever apologise first. He's been hurt by her, he won't let down his pride. No, Caly will have to go to him if there's any chance of fixing their friendship." Rose stared at Al. Never had she heard him say things in such a wise way.  
><em>_"So we're taking Scor's side?" asked Freddie.  
>"We're not taking sides but." he said turning to Rose. "We are going to have to split up." Rose frowned.<br>"What?"  
><em>_"Well, we can't hang out in a four anymore, it'll be easier if one of us hangs out with one and the other hangs out with the other most of the time but makes it clear that we still see the other one." Rose blinked before seeing the logic in this statement.  
><em>_"Okay but can I be with Scor, he's much easier to deal with." Al made an exasperated noise.  
>"Rosie!" he hissed. "You can<em>_**not**__ say things like that, and I don't think he'll be easier to deal with. I suggest you spend time with Caly simply because __**you share a dorm**__ it's the most logical way to split. That and you're both girls, you can talk about girl things." Rose scowled ever so slightly at her cousin. _

_"What in the name of Merlin are you going to do about the competition?" asked Freddie as the two of them stood, stretching, and prepared to face whatever was waiting for them in their dormitory. They exchanged another look, this one horrified. The competition, which had seemed so trivial to them compared to their best friends fight, had not crossed their minds. They still had to compete together and they couldn't wait for it to blow over or they would fall behind.  
><em>_"Well.." said Rose. "We could just be go betweens. Work on it separately, I mean, and then me and Al compile it." Al shook his head.  
><em>_"That won't work. You may find that they'll 'work together' for this competition."  
><em>_"Meaning?"  
><em>_"They'll work with us, in the same room but they won't talk." Rose shrugged. She guessed for now she could live with that.  
><em>_"Right." said Rose. "Sounds like a plan."  
><em>_"Barely." muttered Al as they crossed the common room, leaving their cousins behind. _

_"Are you mad that they left us out?" asked Rose.  
><em>_"Out of what?"  
><em>_"I don't know but are you mad that they kept secrets?" he shrugged.  
>"Everyone has secrets, Rosie."<br>__"Yes but to tell them to one person and not the others."  
>"She probably understands best. We can't choose who keeps secrets and who doesn't." However there was something in Al's voice that made Rose think, as she watched the back of his black-haired head retreat, that it mattered to him far more than he was letting on. Sighing she ascended her own staircase, secretly hoping that she didn't have to talk to her tonight. <em>

* * *

><p>In Transfiguration Caly normally sat next to Scor on the end of the row but taking one look at his face showed that he didn't want her anywhere near him. He'd looked up, briefly, when they'd entered the classroom and cast her a withering, disgusted look. She also noted that he hadn't moved places but Al was in her usual seat. Glancing at Rose, who sighed, they made their way over and Caly sat at the other end where Rose normally would sit and Rose sat on the other side of Scor.<p>

It became apparent that Transfiguration was not the lesson either of them should have when they'd recently argued. Caly found her mind preoccupied, that she was constantly glancing at Scor when he was looking down at his work. This meant that her diagrams, that were usually so accurate and neat became slapdash and messy. She had to redraw one twice and she could see Professor Liann's slowly waning patience every time she past. Scor's performance was also shoddy that day. He seemed to be venting his anger on the water before him in the goblet that he was supposed to be transfiguring into wine. As a result he'd lost ¾ of the drink onto himself and Al by making it splash everywhere and whilst that was no where near as catastrophic as Al who had managed to blow his goblet up, he had earned a double detention that, only by pure luck, did not clash with Gryffindors up coming Quidditch game that Saturday.

The bell for break rang not a moment too soon for Scor or Caly. Smith and Atticus were throwing jibes about her 'breaking up with her death eater boyfriend' across the classroom, which, apart from being wholly inaccurate, were driving Caly to breaking point. Scor was very close to getting him banned as chaser from the Gryffindor team by getting a third detention. His entire body was physically shaking with suppressed rage and Al had given up trying to reason with him, instead he was counting the seconds until the bell. Three. Two. One.

_Brriiiiiiiiing!_

Professor Liann's class leapt to their feet and Caly bumped shoulders with Al as they became part of a mass exodus to get to break. He turned his head and grinned at her, making it quite plain that he was not mad at her for yesterday. This caused her to sigh with relief as they flooded out into the corridor that was swarmed with students in their black robes, hurrying to lunch. She had been worried that she may have lost not just Scor but Al as well, maybe Al was just keeping him company like Rose was keeping her company.

"That _woman_!" Scor spat out. He had stepped away from the throng of people and was now standing in an alcove next to a suit of armour looking livid. Al had stopped in front of him and so had Rose. Caly, because she was waiting for Rose, stopped too. "I am so sick of her!" he seemed so angry he could barely articulate. There was a gap between each word as if he fought for words strong enough. "What is her _problem_!" he was yelling through gritted teeth and Rose and Al both exchanged rather alarmed looks.  
>"Mate." began Al in an attempt to placate him.<br>"Don't!" he said. "Because you know why she hates me!" Rose and Al frowned at each other.  
>"You don't?" asked Rose, completely confused. "But-" Al stomped on her foot to stop her finishing her sentence. "What?" she said to him. "Ohh." she suddenly realised who had known why Scor was being bullied by Liann and knowing he wouldn't take it well.<br>"What?" he nearly screamed. Rose exchanged another look with Al, they hadn't told him because she hadn't wanted to upset him anymore.  
>"Look Scor." said Al.<br>"Just tell me!" he screamed.  
>"Because…" Al was faltering, tipping back and forth between telling him the truth and not. He could see what might happen if Scor knew. He was really afraid. He suddenly got an insight into what it was like to be inside Caly's mind. Scor hadn't seen it because he had wanted to believe everyone had changed their views on him. He probably, deep down, knew why. "Because of your family." Scor looked gutted and Al hung his head. Rose just looked away from the tears that were slowly filling his eyes. Scor looked up and for the first time he saw Caly. This seemed to be too much for him. It was as if he seemed to think she had meant her words. He ran off. His bony shoulder collided was Caly's sending her stumbling back several paces. Rose took a deep breath as if trying to hold back tears. Al looked once at them before taking off after his friend.<p>

Caly turned on her heel and walked away. She had no idea where she was going. She wasn't sure why she was walking. She just wanted to get as far from Scor as possible. Not because she was mad but so she wouldn't have to see that look on his face again. She could hear Rose calling her name and then the sound of her feet as she came trotting after her.

"Caly." she said to her. "Caly stop this."  
>"Stop what?" she asked childishly as she continued to walk.<br>"Stop walking away from him!" Rose yelled. Caly froze and spun around.  
>"What?" Rose stood, shocked. The words that had left her mouth clearly hadn't passed her brain and she couldn't think why she was playing Caly like this. All she knew was that they had barely spent a day arguing and they were already falling to pieces. If she had to push Caly into saying sorry then she would.<br>"I…I." she stuttered. Caly stalked to her. All her suppressed anger, bubbling, once more, to the surface.  
>"You have no idea how close by him I've stood!" this time she wasn't shouting, it seemed that this time she was calm. She was likely to mean everything she said.<br>"Wh- you."  
>"I know it may seem I've turned my back right now, but shove always comes after push." Rose blinked, again with the layered meaning that she was not getting.<br>"Caly what is up between you two?"  
>"Nothing but if you don't want to be around me just say it! I can cope!" Now she was loosing her temper. Her voice was rising in dynamic and Rose found herself backing away.<br>"No, no it's not-"  
>"But honestly <em>Rosie<em> I had expected _so _much more of you!" Rose could honestly say that for one of the first times in her life she was genuinely speechless. She couldn't cope with this. She had to say something but she had no words. There was nothing she could say to make this better but if she fell out with Caly…  
>"Caly please just calm down." Rose didn't know where the tears were coming from. Was she really that scared of loosing her friend? Yes. She remembered, no she had sworn that she would never think about that again. She couldn't cope with that.<br>"I can't!" she was still yelling and Rose was crying and there was so much noise. "I can't Rose! Do you know why, because I'm so messed up! Because I do _everything wrong_!" They seemed to have reached the climax of the argument, Caly's voice was loud and out of control. Rose stepped towards her hand outstretched. When her palm touched her shoulder there was an explosion.

_BANG!_

Caly stumbled back at the force of the explosion, hit by a back wave of magical energy. A cloud of smoke obscured her vision and she coughed waiting for it to clear. When she'd waved it away she saw something that made her heart stand still. Lying on the floor, a small yet noticeable wound to the back of her head, definitely unconscious, was Rose. Caly stared until she heard the footsteps coming towards her from the other end of the corridor. Fear flooding through her, she turned on her heel and ran. Darting through the students towards her classroom, fear and panic gripping her heart and coursing through her veins.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was torture. Caly couldn't concentrate she was so scared and guilty. Professor Longbottom had been late, arriving looking harassed and concerned. Scor sat at the end of the desk next to Al, whatever Al had said to him had made him turn and forgive him. Caly left a large gap and pushed herself up against the stone walls. She was physically shaking. She could barely hold back the tears that were about to fall. She saw Al looking in her direction concerned, and worried. She also noticed that he kept looking up at the clock, he was waiting for Rose, glancing around at the door every now and again. Scor, too, kept looking around but he didn't once look in her direction.

Professor Longbottom set the class to work before coming over to Al and Scor. He bent down and beckoned Caly to lean in but she didn't respond, still pressed shivering against the wall, he cast her one worried look before whispering to the two boys. Their expressions turned horrified and they immediately began to question him. He held up his hands and shook his head. Al cast her another look. Professor Longbottom came over to her. Bending low over her desk he picked up her blank parchment. He seemed to stare down at it but she knew that he was also looking at her trembling hands, pale complexion and red eyes.

"Come outside with me Caly." he whispered. To the rest of the class he said he in a threatening voice. "If I hear a thing."

Caly stepped out into the corridor still shaking. She was unable to control her hands, and her knee shook convulsively too. She was going to be in trouble, she knew it. Professor Longbottom was a close family friend, if he found out that she had hurt Rose…

"Caly?" he bent down to her eye level. She couldn't meet his kind eyes though, she looked over the top of his balding head. "What's wrong?" she shook her head, the tears brimming in her eyes. "Caly did you see what happened to Rose?" she smiled at that, well she _had_ seen what had happened to Rose.  
>"I'm not sure that's what you'd call it." she said. Professor Longbottom looked at her confused.<br>"What is it?" she choked, the tears beginning to fall down her face. A frown appeared on his face.  
>"Caly did you do that?" she nodded. Professor Longbottom stood straight, staring down at her an unreadable expression on his face. He took a deep breath biting his lip as he tried to reach a decision.<br>"Caly this is very serious."  
>"I didn't mean to." Professor Longbottom licked his lips nervously, meeting her eyes.<br>"What happened, I mean you haven't done magic all year?" Caly shrugged, she didn't really want to tell Professor Longbottom that they'd been fighting. He may have been able to tell from the way they'd been sitting but she didn't want to drag this out into the teachers eyes.  
>"I…I don't know. I just, I really don't know, sir." He nodded, not entirely taking her word for it but trusting Caly enough for now. She was a sensible girl, and her desire to do magic was strong, if she knew she would tell him.<br>"I see, well, I will have to, I think, punish you for this Caly. Magic is not permitted in the corridors, accidental or not and Rose is in the Hospital Wing. I think Friday night, can't miss Quidditch." he smiled and she barely returned it.  
>"Rose will be okay?" he smiled widely again.<br>"She'll be fine. She'll be in the Hospital Wing for today but she'll be back tomorrow."  
>"Okay."<br>"Cheer up Caly. It's not really your fault." she shook her head. He tilted his head to the side.  
>"Is there anything you want to tell me?" she shook her head. "Well my door is always open, Caly, don't be afraid." she nodded again and headed back into the lesson.<p>

The rest of the day was a blur, Al came to her once in the common room but apart from that he seemed permanently attached to Scor's side. When he did come to talk to her the conversation was awkward. She could tell that Al was trying to make sure that it wasn't so but the subject was just so that it couldn't not be.

"Hey." he said sitting on the edge of the table she had her books spread on, the lack of Rose and Scor meant that she had to write her essays for herself and thus needed a lot of help from the textbooks. She was sitting in a corner of the common room away from all of the noise and trying to blend into the background. She looked up and nodded to him.  
>"Hi." he shifted, trying to get more comfortable.<br>"Rose is awake." Caly looked back up.  
>"And she's-"<br>"Fine." Caly nodded and looked back at her piece of parchment. Al looked over her shoulder. "You know Red Kappers _aren't _found in _New Mexico _but found _are_ in _Mexico_." she looked over her essay and realised that she had been writing about the _im_perfect climate for Kappers. With a groan of frustration she picked up her quill to scribble out half of what she'd written.

"Anything else?" she snarled.  
>"Yeah, stop this." Caly looked up at him, confused. "Caly, we're your best friends and I have no idea what's up with you but the idea of us is that when things get difficult you pull us closer not push us away."<br>"But I-"  
>"Look I <em>know<em> Scor started the argument between the two of you but you struck the blow beneath the belt. That comment was completely unjustifiable. Have you got any idea what he's like right now? He's a wreck." Al ran a hand across his face. "He really needs you."  
>"What do you want me to do? He doesn't want me to be anywhere near him."<br>"Come on Caly it's not that hard." there was a silence between you.

"I'm guessing you want to know about Rose."  
>"Actually, I really don't. I know it was you." Caly stared at him. "So does Scor, it's not boding well, but I don't care what you were arguing about because I reckon I have a pretty good idea. No, I care that you won't make the effort." Caly frowned.<br>"What are you talking about?"  
>"Caly are you going to go and talk to Rose."<br>"Not if she doesn't want me to."  
>"See!" Al gesticulated, amazed that she hadn't got it yet. "You're just hiding behind that excuse. Yeah it's great that you care about her but you've got to go talk to her." Caly frowned some more at him.<br>"Look I have to go, there's a load of stuff me and Scor need to do that will make sure we're not killed by the Quidditch game." he clapped her shoulder as he stood up. "You'll get it eventually." he said before walking off.

For the rest of the week Caly felt like she was sinking in quick sand, fighting to stay up but just being dragged down further. The work load seemed four times heavier, each day ten times longer. All of the hours blended into one, so by the time Friday had come around she was exhausted, lonely and upset. Al would come and talk to her and each time he had words of encouragement and help but it never seemed to be enough. All the time he asked her if she'd got her answer yet and still she hadn't because honestly she didn't know what he wanted.

Scor was hiding away from the world. He tried to skirt the crowds, the people he knew, not able to bear them seeing what he thought was his shattered image. He'd fallen so far in his own eyes, in Caly's eyes, that Scor felt every step was an immeasurable weight. He was tired and shattered, broken, weak, barely good enough for anything anymore. He barely felt like he was clinging on, and all he had to cling to was Al's promises that this would all end soon. That he just had to push through this. Al's level headed calmness was the only thing stopping him from dropping away completely.

Rose felt very much like she was drowning. Burying herself in books to detract from the shattered world around her, her friendship with Scor was on tenuous grounds, she sunk far away into the world of print, surfacing only to do work. This heavy cycle of work, Quidditch and reading had the effect of quickly tiring her out. She became exhausted, walking everywhere with her head bent low, snoozing in the back of the classrooms. Suddenly all the different pressures that she had seemed to be caving in on her. Despite what they had said, it was only her and Al looking up the next clue; _The Lady Macbeth_. Al was proving to be helpful, just as he had last time, making her laugh and forget for periods of time she was fighting.

Al was skilled at Quidditch player, an excellent seeker, and one skill seekers are especially adept at is p patience and perseverance, and he had never found it more applicable than in the week in which they had all fallen out with each other. Al went from one to the other with a dogged perseverance making sure that they were coping with school work, relatively happy, and gently trying to nudge them in the right direction. Growing up in a house with his mother, James and Lily, meant that arguments happened frequently and Al knew how to play peace keeper, especially amongst his siblings. It wasn't much different, except the argument was much more serious and between people that weren't use to arguing.

Friday evening meant the last practice before the opening game. Earlier they were sure that they were going to win now Maise was slightly worried. Scor's game had become erratic and Rose's was poor. Al was fine. In fact he was brilliant, Maise had no qualms about him but she wondered whether or not to swap in Olive and Colin. She knew all about Scor's row with Caly, she guessed that that could be affecting his playing, but she had no idea what was influencing Rose. It could be the attack. It could be the fight but Al seemed to be fine. She pushed it away and shouted to them all to re-group and start again, Al had caught the snitch for the umpteenth time.

Caly, whilst Maise struggled with her player dilemma, knocked on the door of Professor Longbottom's office. He opened it immediately and beckoned her in. She smiled at him faintly when he beamed cheerfully down at her.

"Cheer up, I don't intend to punish you, terribly." the smile appeared at the right side of her mouth and he seemed to settle for it. "Now I was going to get you clean the plants in the Greenhouses for Professor Sprout but that wouldn't be much of a detention, eh?" she smiling more now and Professor Longbottom looked pleased with himself. "So I thought to myself, what does everyone hate doing? And then it came to me." He reached down and dramatically dropped a stack of papers on the desk she was sitting at. "Marking tests." Caly raised an eyebrow slightly. "Go on." she dipped her quill in the ink he'd set before her and began.

Al, Scor and Rose made there way back from Quidditch laughing quietly together, Scor and Rose feeling better than they had in days. Maise had been ranting at Freddie from fifty meters up when she slipped off her broom. Freddie, pretending to be mortally offended, had refused to go and pull her onto his broom but instead hovered below, waiting for her to fall whilst counting how long she could hold on for. In the end, after 15 minutes, Maise's hand slipped and Fred caught her in his arms, gave her a kiss on the cheek and said  
>"Perfect my dear." the entire team had been in hysterics ever since and it had a rather positive affect on Scor and Rose's game. However Maise had been distinctly unimpressed that no one else had bothered to try and get her, but they all pointed out Freddie was vice captain and his word was law when she was incapacitated.<p>

Caly finished detention in a remarkably good mood for someone who had been in detention. Professor Longbottom had decided, half an hour in to go into his cupboard and get himself a butterbeer, promptly offering her one too. Caly had never had one before and at first declined because she thought it was alcoholic but when he assured her that it was only really alcoholic for house-elves she accepted. At once she had been glad that she did, it warmed her on the inside and made her feel better. Professor Longbottom didn't talk much at first, preferring to moan about the handwriting of the sevenths to himself but once he'd finished he divided the work and began to chat casually with her about plants. He may not be the Herbology teacher but he knew as much as Professor Sprout. By the time it was the end they had both finished marking and were debating about the Nepalese man who was attempting to grow plants that could perform magic.

"I didn't think he'd catch her!" said Rose in a loud voice, filled with excitement and hysteria.  
>"Of course he would!" said Scor, in a derisive tone that Al never thought he would miss. "Freddie is reckless but he wouldn't risk anyone like that, that's the sort of thing James might do. No offence Al." he added as an afterthought. Al shrugged, what he did care what other people thought about his brother.<br>"It would have been funny if he hadn't caught her." said Al. The other two looked at him like he'd sprouted several extra heads. "I mean the look on Fred's face." he hastily corrected.  
>"Yes because it's <em>so<em> worth dropping someone 50 metres to see the expression on someone else's face." said Scor sarcastically. The other two laughed and he joined in. The laughed harder than necessary, but they hadn't for so long. It was just Caly that was missing.

"Thank you for the book." said Caly as she made to leave. Professor Longbottom had just leant her one from his personal collection. "It's nothing. Just, don't spend _too_ much time reading, I want you to win that competition." Caly swallowed guiltily. She hadn't worked on the competition since giving Rose the clue last Sunday.  
>"Well goodbye, sir."<br>"Bye Caly."

Caly left and immediately stuck her nose in the book, it was interesting, discussing plants that she hadn't heard of before from regions of the world that she knew very little about. She heard some laughter nearby but it didn't register with her as she continued to skim read about plants from central Asia. As she reached the staircase she looked up and was greeted with an awkward sight.

There laughing over some sort of joke were Al, Scor and Rose. The three of them looked up and saw her and they froze. Scor's face fell into a cold hard mask, like the one he wore for Liann, Rose shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot the smile dying. Al looked between them and came very close to throwing his hands into the air out of exasperation.

"Hi." he said, instead to Caly. She blinked and looked at him.  
>"Hey." she replied.<br>"What are you doing?" he asked vaguely wondering why she wasn't playing chess with his brother. She held up the book in response.  
>"Detention with Professor Longbottom." she said and the awkward silence became even more pronounced.<br>"I see." said Al, clearly trying to keep normal conversation going. "Bad?"  
>"No, I just had to mark some tests and in the end we talked about plants. You would think he was the Herbology teacher the way he goes on about plants."<br>"That's because he was." Scor's words cut through their polite conversation in a scathing tone. It wasn't the sarcasm that they were used to, it was pure derision, designed to jab right back at her. Al tensed, Rose shifted uncomfortably again.  
>"C'mon there's no need for that." said Al. "We weren't taught Herbology by Professor Longbottom, can she really be expected to remember something irrelevant he told us in our first lesson." Scor snorted and turned away. Al sighed.<br>"Well we need to head to bed or we won't win, tomorrow." Caly nodded.  
>"I'll be up there with James, I guess." she said. They made their way up the stairs, Scor bumping past her and Rose simply scurrying. Al came up and put a hand on her shoulder.<p>

"You still haven't got there have you?" he asked. She shook her head and he nodded. "What would happen if I told you that you're hiding behind your excuse of not talking to them because _they_ don't want to, because _you_ don't to because you're afraid of what they're going to say." Caly looked at him and he squeezed her shoulder even tighter.  
>"I-I… how?" he smiled slightly, tilting his head to the side.<br>"I've seen it before. Problem is, is that you're not aware of what you're doing, it's more subconscious with you." he snorted slightly.  
>"But you saw Scor." she said.<br>"Then don't start with him." he stared her down trying to will her into getting the right answer. Eventually Caly asked.  
>"What's up with Rosie?" Al paused, his grip loosening on her shoulder.<br>"I think that's something she should tell you." Caly nodded. "Common room?"  
>"Common room."<p>

When they entered the common room she saw Rose working in the corner surrounded by piles of books, half she didn't need. Scor was sitting in another chair, clearly waiting for Al. Al made a pointed gesture towards Rose with his eyebrows. Caly sighed as he walked away and then realised that unless she did it now she would just find excuses not to.

"Rose." she said tentatively when she made her way over to her desk. Rose jumped and looked up, there was a stretched silence. "I'm sorry." she said and it was amazing how much difference those two words could make. Rose's eyes filled with tears, instantly and Caly wondered if maybe she had said something wrong but after a pause Rose said  
>"Really?"<br>"Yeah." she said, finding herself choking up. "I didn't mean to, I just lost control, I was so scared of loosing you. I didn't want anything to happen to us too, kinda stupid if you think about it." she said with a watery smile. Rose nodded.  
>"That's what I was thinking about too. I didn't want to loose any of you as my friends so I was trying to push you into saying sorry to Scor, I guess 'cause I don't really understand what you're arguing about I couldn't judge it properly. I'm so sorry." Caly shook her head.<br>"You didn't do anything." but Rose just shook her head back and said.  
>"It's like you said push always comes after shove." For some reason that made Caly emit a choked sob. Rose got up from the table where she was sitting, manoeuvred around the books and hugged her tightly. The two cried for a little bit into each others shoulders, just letting the weight that they'd been carrying with them for the last couple of days lessen with each falling tear.<p>

Saturday dawned with Rose once more stomping around her dorm, it had been strange to discover that Rose could indeed move silently in the mornings and it was good to have the old one back.

"I can't find my broom!" screamed Rose at the top of her voice, somehow knowing Caly was awake, probably because Caly constantly complained that she couldn't sleep through her racket.  
>"You gave it to Maise!" yelled back Caly from beneath the covers. "So that she could give it to Professor Longbottom so no one could mess with it!"<br>"Oh yeah." said Rose, the movement ceasing. "I forgot about that."  
>"Evidently." said Caly, sitting up. Rose grinned at her.<br>"We're going to beat Ravenclaw, why aren't you happy?" Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"Tired and…" the rest of her sentence tailed away, she had yet to make up with Scor. Her Rose had talked for ages last night, not about what Rose was so afraid of, Caly had brushed on it but Rose had said that she would rather only tell it once and Scor had been asking about it too.<br>"You'll make up." said Rose confidently. "You've got to." Caly nodded and climbed out of bed whilst Rose hummed and tidied away a few things.

Rose was greeted by huge cheers from the Gryffindor table when she arrived down to breakfast. She walked down with a huge smile on her face and plonked herself opposite Al and next to Freddie, with the rest of the team, and Caly sat next to her. She smiled at Al, and Scor who was sitting next to him, and for a moment it was like old times. Then Scor broke eye contact to discuss something with Roxie and Al and Rose turned to talk conditions with Maise.

"Hey Caly." James had wondered over to her, his Gryffindor scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. "Ready to go watch the game?" he asked. Caly shrugged.  
>"I guess."<br>"C'mon." he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her off towards the stands. Caly laughing, ran behind him at his enthusiasm towards a sport he couldn't play.

"So." she said once they had reached the top of the windswept stands. "How's your latest 'conquest'?" she asked. James turned to her a funny frown on his face.

'Conquest' was the term that was more commonly used to describe James' girlfriend. James liked to flit between girls, have several on the go etc and whilst most people didn't approve nobody bothered preaching, it was a waste of breath. James was a little surprised that she was interested in what was going on in his life when as far as he knew she was still at odds with Scor. He shrugged, she probably wanted a distraction, and answered.

"I'm single." he said casually leaning on the railings of the stands. Caly raised her eyebrows.  
>"Really? What happened to the Ravenclaw one?"<br>"I broke up with her when she got clingy and restrictive." he shrugged. "She didn't want me to go to Slughorns thing with you, she wanted me to take her. I go with who I want to. Going with you is like tradition." Caly laughed.  
>"Tradition? We've only done it for, like, a year."<br>"Whatever." said James. "I don't like it when people try to run my life." Caly shook her head a broad smile erupting across her face. "What?" he asked.  
>"Nothing, you just reminded me of a muggle song that's all." she said. "It's My Life." she expanded unnecessarily. James gave her a weird look but then Nick's voice sounded over the magical magnifier.<p>

"WELCOME TO THE SECOND QUIDDITCH GAME OF THE SEASON. IN THE FIRST GAME HUFFLEPUFF." There were loud cheers from the Hufflepuff's that had come to watch. "BEAT SLYTHERIN." More cheers. "IN A TENSE GAME THAT COULD HAVE GONE EITHER WAY. NOW IT'S GRYFFINDOR VERSUS RAVENCLAW AND LET'S BRING ON THE TEAMS! FOR RAVENCLAW; DOART, TIRREL, HART, DOART, DOEN, DOEN AND… CORNER!" there was screams and whistles from the Ravenclaw's as their players flew onto the pitch.

"AND FOR GRYFFINDOR; WOOD, JORDAN, WEASLEY, MALFOY, WEALSLEY, WEASLEY AND… POTTER!" Caly cheered for her house as they flew out onto the pitch. She could see Scor's white blonde hair glinting in the sun next to the flame red hair of the Weasley's around him. Al's was a red dot hovering above the rest of the team with a mess of shaggy black hair on top.

"BLIMEY THAT'S A LOT OF WEASLEY'S! ANYWAY, THE CAPTAINS HAVE SHAKEN HANDS, MADAME HOOCH HAS THE QUAFFLE IN HAND AND… THE GAME HAS BEGUN!"

The game quickly turned into one of the fastest games Caly had seen at Hogwarts, with the Quaffle being exchanged between the chasers at an alarming speed and the Bludgers being hit hard and fast at anyone in a contrasting colour. However, despite the incredibly fast pace, Gryffindor were slowly and surely pulling ahead. For everyone goal that somehow managed to fly past Kay's gloved fingertips Gryffindor scored four more. Scor seemed to have gotten over his bad spell and was channelling all his aggression into throwing the balls as hard as he could at Reagan Doart so they fell through her grip. Rose, too, was on much better form. The Bludgers that she hit went straight on target, causing the players to swerve, dodge and often drop the Quaffle. The only thing that was missing was the snitch and that had nearly been caught by Al twice. The second time Caly could have sworn that it had been in his hand when Emma Corner, a Ravenclaw in their year that they didn't really know, collided, on purpose, with the tail end of his broom, knocking him off course. Now he was circling the game, like an ever patient hawk, waiting for a little glint of gold.

"AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT POTTER'S GONE INTO A 3RD SPECTACULAR DIVE! LET'S HOPE NO MORE FOULS CAN PREVENT HIM FROM GAINING THE SNITCH." Al was vertical, speeding towards the ground where the snitch hovered maybe fifteen meters above. Emma, thankfully, was on the other side of the pitch near the Ravenclaw hoops and had no hope of getting there but that wasn't going to be for lack of trying. Both Doen siblings knocked bludgers at Al but he swerved them both and they rebounded and Rose and Freddie zoomed forward to take care of them. Al was inches from the snitch and Caly was screaming as loudly as she could. His fingers were outstretched, he had thrown himself as far forward as possible and his right arm was at full stretch. The gold ball fluttered, as if sensing danger but..

"YES! POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WIN 350- 50!" Caly leapt up and hugged James tightly as the Gryffindors around them went wild. On the pitch below the team had joined into a giant red blob around their seeker, hugging him tightly. Gryffindor had taken the lead in the house championship, again!

The after party in the Gryffindor common room was an overly raucous one considering they'd only won the first game of the season but James had told her that the whole house had been down because they'd been concerned about all of them acting differently and the attack on Rose. Plus all of those things combined with the argument made it look like it was unlikely for them to do well in the game. James had left her to be with his circle of third year friends and after standing awkwardly around by the table with Butterbeer on it she grabbed a bottle and went to join her friends and Scor.

"Happy?" she asked when she sat down next to Rose.  
>"Very." said Al.<br>"Especially after yesterdays practice." added Rose. "We were okay at the end but most of the time we were crap." Caly furrowed her brow.  
>"<em>All <em>of you?"  
>"No, just me and Scor."<br>"Oh." an awkward pause descended upon them in which she began to sip her Butterbeer and Al caught her eye and began making funny movements with his eyes and head first to Rose and then to Scor. At first Caly frowned at him, not getting what he was meaning, but then it clicked; he wanted her to apologise. Well it was as good a time as any.

"Scor." she said. Unwilling Scor's head snapped in her direction his eyes fixating onto her. He didn't say anything, as if he didn't want to acknowledge her but couldn't not. "I'm really sorry for what I said to you." he blinked at her and she took a last large swig to try and alleviate the tension.  
>"Me too." he said quickly. "I behaved rashly." he shrugged. "I don't think either of us coped well." Caly nodded.<br>"Yeah, I would have gone under if it hadn't have been for Al and sometimes even that wasn't enough." Scor nodded in an understanding manner, holding out his hand. "Shake and forget?" he proposed. "I would hug you but I want to avoid an emotional break down." Caly felt her lips quirking upwards as she grasped his hand.

"I know what you mean about Al." he said when they'd let go. "He really kept me going."  
>"And me." chipped in Rose.<br>"Why are you talking about me like I'm not even here?" asked Al in an indignant voice.  
>"We're praising you, shouldn't this be boosting your ego?" said Caly.<br>"I guess but it's weird."  
>"A toast to Al, without whom we'd certainly all be dead." Caly held up her Butterbeer bottle and the others held up their hands in a mock salute, laughing they toasted him glad that their row was finally, officially over.<p> 


	9. Here by the Fireside

Here by the Fireside

October transition into November and then December in a fairly standard manner. The four of them, now best friends again, did their homework, attempted lessons and worked as hard as they could on the puzzles being presented to them in the game. Scor, Rose and Al still had a tough Quidditch schedule to compete with and Caly still set aside some time on Saturday to play a game of chess with James. The only thing different was that now they had a rivalry with the Slytherins that had acceded their animosity with McMillan and Smith. Where the two Hufflepuff boys were just a general pain, the Slytherins did their best to intimidate and scare Scor and Caly.

However, most of the time, they did their best not to let it get to them. Caly was trying her best not to bottle up her feelings and let them out slowly so that they didn't explode out and hurt people. After that one incident with Rose, Caly had not done magic again. What's more she could feel her fear for her ability growing, again. She tried talking about it to Scor but he didn't have much to say. He'd tried to help her identify what she was feeling at the time but it had all gone by in such a short space of time that she wasn't sure. Scor had gone into much more depth about how he was feeling and confessed that he really just snapped at her because he felt stressed and worried. The last thing to do with their row that was left open ended was whatever Rose's fear was. Both Caly and Scor had politely questioned her but she had turned them both down saying that she would talk to them when she was ready, knowing the feeling very well they both backed off and put it aside.

They had advanced several steps down the line in terms of the clues. From the Lady Macbeth they had moved onto Daly Tachmeb who was apparently the Wizarding equivalent of Lady Macbeth. She had convinced her husband to murder a man for the elder wand, framing two other people in the process. Later she becomes racked with guilt, goes off her rocker and uses the wand to kill herself. This had brought them onto the elder wand and the three hallows, a subject Al knew an unhealthy amount about. They hunted the castle for the symbol of the hallows but couldn't find it anywhere, mainly because they didn't know where to look. Al had suggested the forest but Rose turned that down; no one else was going to know that the stone was there. In the end they got lucky, Al went to library and took out _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_, looking for some inspiration, and found scrawled across the top of the second page in _The Tale of the Three Brothers_;

_Britain once had their share,  
><em>_But now but one will linger there._

This riddle had been pretty nasty at first but actually it was quite simple; they were looking for something that lived in Britain a lot but then for whatever reason there was just one left. Rose had contacted her mum, who had worked in the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and asked her to send over creature population charts. Scor went back to the library to look over anything in their and after a bit of deliberation Caly and Al went down to Hagrid's hut to ask him if he knew anything. Strictly speaking they weren't sure whether or not that was allowed, but they'd never been told they couldn't talk to him so it was worth a shot.

Hagrid, it turned out, was the right person to go to. After welcoming them in and giving them tea and a plate of rock biscuits, which Al told her not to eat, he sat down and asked cheerfully what he could do for them. They'd hesitated for a second, but then Caly remembered something that she'd been told by Al and Rose the first time she'd been down to Hagrid's. Setting down the teacup she asked Hagrid whether Grawp was now the only giant in Britain. A bright smile had spread across Hagrid's face at the mention of his half brother and he nodded enthusiastically, whilst Al sat there a small grin spreading across his face, too.

Giants was the clue they were on now and they hadn't advanced anywhere. They all thought that the clues were getting more and more random and harder to solve. That was why the four of them were camped around the dimming fire at half eleven on a school night, the word _Giant _scrawled in the centre of a giant spider diagram that was currently encompassing four rolls of parchment.

"I give up!" the dramatic words came from Al as he threw down his quill and rolled onto his back away from the parchment. The other three rolled their eyes and didn't look up from the books they were perusing, Al did this every over night.  
>"Don't be such a cissy." said Scor from the other side of the parchment where he was carefully documenting the life of the leader of giant rebellion; Rward.<br>"Me, a cissy!" replied Al in mock outrage. "I'm not the one that spends an hour in the shower."  
>"That doesn't make me a cissy, that makes me hygienic." said Scor calmly as he flipped a page of his book.<br>"Sure, but you will only use your shampoo because it smells of _roses_." he scoffed. Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"One day you will learn the benefits of smelling nice Al, it means people don't turn tail and flee when they meet you, chosen one's son or not." Al snorted. "That's also why I gel my hair. You should try it , stop yourself from looking like a birds nest got planted upside down on your head."<br>"Hey!" said Al angrily throwing both hands over his head in a protective manner. "No one messes with the Potter hairstyle! We were born with messy hair and we'll die with messy hair!"  
>"Actually, I think you'll find you were probably born with no hair." Al scowled and stuck his tongue out at Scor, whilst Rose and Caly bent over, suppressing their giggles.<p>

"You know Slughorn's party." said Rose. There was a round of nodding. "Are you invited this year Scor?" Scor looked up and shrugged.  
>"Don't know, I didn't think you guys had got your invites."<br>"Yeah but we're obviously going." pointed out Caly.  
>"Well." said Scor. "I don't know, I mean, I am good in his lessons."<br>"And you achieved hero status last year." pointed out Al. "Besides if, for some reason, he doesn't invite you, you can always come with me again. You should just come with me even if he does, saves me having to ask anyone." Scor nodded.  
>"That just leaves you Rose." said Caly. "Are you going to bring JP again, because I think he enjoyed it last year." Rose shrugged, staring into the fire. "I guess."<p>

They fell once more into silence, Al not doing anything, and the other threes work more broken and less productive. Caly kept glancing up at her three friends. Sometimes it was nice to feel normal again, listening to Scor and Al talk made everything that Scor kept saying to her fly out of her mind. Made everything that the Slytherins kept doing just evaporate.

"Caly?" she looked around to see Scor staring at her. "You alright?" he asked cautiously.  
>"Yeah." she said flicking her eyes to him. "Why?"<br>"You've been staring at the fire for the past five minutes, ignoring us."  
>"Oh." she flicked some ink off her quill. "I didn't notice."<br>"Clearly." said Scor.

"Should we go to bed?" asked Rose. It was midnight now and they _did_ have school tomorrow. Caly shrugged, she didn't feel tired. Al, who was still lying on his back stayed silent. Scor ran a hand over his face.  
>"We probably should, if we work when we're tired out productivity goes down."<br>"I'm not tired." said Caly quietly.  
>"Well la-di-da." said Scor sarcastically. Rose snorted. They were silent for a few more moments until Rose said.<br>"Guys."  
>"And gals." interjected Caly, which caused them to break down into giggles once more. "Whatever. Guys and gals, Al's asleep." there was a pause<br>"What?" asked Caly looking up from where she was lying on her front. Rose pointed with the end of her quill to Al who was indeed flat out on his back fast asleep. Scor cracked up again, whilst Caly tilted her head to the side a grin spreading across her face.  
>"He looks like a toddler." said Caly examining the overly peaceful look on his face.<br>"I know." said Scor. "It's hilarious. Oh, I'm never going to let him live this down." he stood up, brushing scraps of parchment of his robes as he did. Caly and Rose stood up too and began to roll up the spider diagram and collect all the books whilst Scor stooped low and picked Al off the floor.  
>"Sweet Merlin." he gasped. "He weighs a ton." Both Caly and Rose laughed as quietly as they could before departing up their staircase, leaving Scor grunting as he heaved Al up his own.<p>

The next day the four of them were exhausted, going from class to class and being thankful for the first time ever for History of Magic so that they could just fall asleep on each others shoulders, except for Rose who struggled through the class so that they wouldn't fall behind. Rose carried the four of them, including Scor, through History of Magic. It was her notes that they copied and revised from at the end of the year and her notes that had got them all pretty good marks in the end of year exams. Naturally, Rose had done best in the year since as she was the _only_ person that could be bothered to pay proper attention. Even the Ravenclaws let the subject slide, a bit.

After Herbology with Professor Sprout, which was a doddle for Caly, they had dinner and retired back to the common to try and work quickly through their homework. Caly, Scor and Al had come up with a homework system that Rose didn't approve of, basically depending on what subject it was one person would write the model essay and the others would take the key points but change the rest. Today, was Caly's day for Herbology and Scor was the best at wheedling the History of Magic notes out of Rose so he wrote that essay. This system meant that a. they were never busted for cheating, b. they always got good marks and c. they got their homework done in half the time which was good because they were really busy. Rose refused to partake in any form of copying scheme so sat near them diligently writing her own essays from her notes and textbooks.

After that had happened the four of them had nothing more to do than to get out the spider diagram and keep working on everything about giants. They were all agreed that this was not the most efficient way to be doing things, this was definitely not the right was to be doing it and they were probably missing something obvious but they didn't have another plan.

"You know something?" said Rose as they lay in the gradually quietening common room.  
>"What?" asked Caly, more to humour her than because she was actually interested.<br>"I think we should go see Grawp."  
>"What?" said Scor, he was now listening to what Rose was saying properly.<br>"No, seriously, hear me out." she said, sitting up. "Grawp is the only giant left and if you go through the records at all you find that out. He's registered by the Ministry. Also, c'mon, he's at Hogwarts!" she said gesticulating with her hands trying to get them to see her reasoning. "The _only_ giant in Britain is _at Hogwarts_! How much of a coincidence is that? It has to be part of the clue!" Caly glanced at Al. He shrugged.  
>"It sort of makes sense." he said. "And it could be a lot more productive than this stupid chart thing." Scor shook his head.<br>"But it's a _giant_! It's dangerous, vicious." Rose shook her head.  
>"Scor have you heard yourself?" she asked. He blinked and looked at her, confused. "You sound just like my dad did when ever he used to talk about your family. They're Malfoy's, they're evil." Scor gaped at her opened mouthed. "Don't be blinded by the stereotype." she said. Caly and Al exchanged awkward looks, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. There was a terse pause, then.<br>"Fine, I'll come with you to see Grawp."

The next day, in their free after lunch, they walked down to Hagrid's hut, hoping that he wouldn't be teaching. Luckily, there was smoke blossoming from his chimney and the curtains were thrown wide open so that you could see him bustling around inside. Rose raised a gloved hand and knocked on the door. All four of them were bundled up against the cold wearing hats, scarves and gloves and stamped their feet as they waited for Hagrid to open the door.

"Come in!" he said with a warm smile. "Come in!" the four of them hurried in and were immediately greeted with the warmth from Hagrid's fire. "Sit down. Make yourselves at home. I'll get you all some tea." Hagrid bustled off to make them tea when Rose interrupted.  
>"Actually Hagrid we were wondering if we could see Grawp." Hagrid turned around quickly and they were glad to see that the smile on his face had grown even more.<br>"Ah." he said "I wondered when you lot'd come down here askin' me that."  
>"So?" asked Rose eagerly as Hagrid had turned around to do something.<br>"So what are we waiting for?" asked Hagrid, he turned holding a thick moleskin overcoat in one hand and a dog leash in the other.

The four of them, Hagrid and Fang III set out from his hut at a brisk walk, their feet crunching over the frosted ground.

"It'll snow soon." said Hagrid wisely as he looked up at the clouded sky. The four of them exchanged looks and nodded.  
>"Hagrid, where is Grawp?" asked Al.<br>"He's in the forest. Been there a couple o' days now. A unicorn's been badly hurt, see, needs tending regularly."  
>"You've trained a giant to look after a unicorn?" Scor sounded incredulous but also wholly impressed. Hagrid looked down at him.<br>"Yeah. Not all giants are monsters, Scorpius, Grawp's been pushed around a lot 'cause he's a runt. He understands pain." Scor nodded, chin buried in his scarf and the fastening of his cloak.  
>"Does it, I mean, can he talk?"<br>"'Course, his English is nearly fluent." Scor looked at Rose for confirmation of this and she nodded. "He finds long words hard but he speaks quite well." Caly walked silently next to Al, listening in to all the information.

When they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest both herself and Scor stopped.

"Are we really going in there?" asked Scor in a shaky voice that showed that he really was quite afraid of the entire situation. Caly was just eyeing the forest apprehensively, hoping she wasn't about to land herself into a heap of trouble.  
>"'Course we are." said Hagrid. "How many times do I have to tell students there ain't nothing in there that'll harm you when you're with me, and I mean that, now c'mon." Without a backward glance he marched into the forest. Al and Rose, showing the ingrained faith that they had in Hagrid followed in after him. Caly was about to go in before she noticed that Scor was still standing on the edge with a terrified look on his face.<br>"Scor?" she asked tentatively.  
>"I'm not sure I can do this Caly." he said. "Just go on in there without me, I'll wait here."<br>"What is it?"  
>"I'll tell you another time." he was a nasty shade of white now and Caly was quite concerned for him.<br>"Here." she said taking his hand. "It's a forest, how terrifying can it be?"  
>"Enough to ban us from it." he responded.<br>"Touché." she said looking around for anything to say. "But c'mon you're gonna miss out on the clue and we need you." he shook his head. "Okay, how about we do this together. On the count of three." he looked at her like he didn't have a clue what she was talking about. "1...2...3!" she jumped up and forward, dragging Scor across the threshold into the forest. He gasped as his feet were planted on the leafy floor. The canopy cast a shadow over his pale face and he seemed frozen.

"Scor?" Caly asked after a couple of seconds.  
>"I'm okay." said Scor, but the high pitch squeak was rather unlike his own.<br>"Sure?" she asked, beginning to doubt her decision.  
>"Yeah." and this time he sounded more normal. "Yeah, it's just, well, I'll tell you this evening." he said as Rose and Al came running towards them.<br>"C'mon!" said Rose. "Hagrid has to take us to Grawp and back in time for dinner!" Al however had noticed their hands and said with a smirk  
>"Is their anything you'd like to tell us?" Rose's eyes darted, too, to their hands and frowned whilst Caly and Scor quickly took them apart.<br>"Nope." she said. "I'm pretty sure there isn't."  
>"Let's go to Grawp." said Scor hurriedly, he was still very pale but he seemed to have realised that the quicker they got there the sooner they could leave.<p>

The walk through the forest was mostly silent. Hagrid burbled on about all the things he'd taught 'Grawpie' how to do and how proud he was of him for no longer ripping up trees. Caly mainly had her eyes fixed on the forest floor where there was an array of plant life such as she had never seen, having only ever been in Greenhouses I and II and most of the plants in there were cultivated and tropical. However here were wild plants growing in their natural habitat, that would _all _have useful properties. Scor looked pale and jumpy. Whilst Al and Rose were just talking about what clue Grawp could have for them.

"Grawpie!" called Hagrid, they had reached a clearing in which a unicorn lay on the floor. At first Caly's heart stopped for a moment as she feared it was dead, but then she saw it's magnificent head, with the long silvery mane, move sideways on the floor to look up at the giant that was caring for it.

Grawp was, for want of a better word, giant. Despite being crouched down he was the same height as Hagrid and his head looked about the size of a boulder. His skin was a grey colour and he was wearing strange clothes that had obviously been handmade. He looked like he could crush the unicorn in one hand but instead he seemed to be gently binding it's leg. His fingers working impossibly nimbly for their size. The look in the giant's eyes was one of great intent as he focused in on his work.

"There he is." said Hagrid unnecessarily, especially as he has just called out his name. "Isn't he magnificent." Caly tilted her head to the side. She wouldn't exactly call him magnificent but he was certainly… curious, like the pyramids in Egypt, when you stare up and wonder how they were ever built so big, Grawp was impossibly tall. Rose nodded her head, Al had raised his eyebrows at the phrase magnificent and Scor had taken another step back, looking absolutely terrified.

When Grawp had finished his work he sat back on his heels and then spotted Hagrid.

"HAGGER!" he called out his voice booming across the silent forest. He stood up, it was like watching a computer animation growth as he grew up to the height of some of the small trees.  
>"Hey there Grawpie, look who's come back to see you." he gestured to Rose who stepped forward.<br>"ROSE!" he cried out and stepped forward, the ground shook, Scor shrank back even further.  
>"And look this is Harry's son, Al." he pointed to Al.<br>"AL?" he tilted his head to the side as if trying to process the new name.  
>"Yeah, and these are their friends Caly and, er, do you mind if he calls you Scor?" Scor shook his head as if what Grawp called him was the least relevant thing to him. "And this is Scor."<br>"CALY? SCOR?" there was still the look of complete puzzlement on his face as he tried to remember their names and who they were.  
>"Yeah now they've come for that bit of information that Minnie told you." Grawp frowned and he dropped onto the floor, with a thump that knocked the four of them off their feet. When they stood up they saw him sat with his chin in his hand, deep in thought. "WHAT'S IN A NAME?" he began hesitantly. "WONDERFUL I AM BUT WONDERFUL AM I?"<p>

There was a long silence after that as he stared proudly up at them, as if they should be really impressed for him remembering that. Hagrid began to applaud.

"Well done, Grawpie. Well done!" Caly, exchanging bemused looks with her friends, began to applaud too. The others, following her lead, began to clap, so that the clearing was filled with the sound of applause. Grawp looked pleased with this but then turned from them to examine the unicorn, again.  
>"Come on." said Hagrid. "Let's head back. He's nothing more to say to us."<p>

They walked in silence their minds occupied with the next clue. The grammar was odd, Caly had noticed that immediately, but she wondered whether that was just the way Grawp had learnt it, as English wasn't his native language. Again, she thought exasperatedly, with names. This must mean that Wonderful and the person's name were somehow linked, probably. She'd need to talk it out, Rose would have some good ideas, hopefully.

Unfortunately that night they couldn't stay up late that night because after dinner they had Astronomy. After that one lesson in which Professor Overy had declared that danger was approaching the lessons had resumed their monotonous continuity. No one even pretended to be enthusiastic when they turned, much preferring to talk about whatever else they wanted and only half bothering to fill in their star charts, knowing that a. their teacher _never_ marked them, b. the homework, if there was any, would be ridiculously easy and c. they wouldn't need them for the end of year exams.

The next day Caly had the choice of going through the puzzle herself, or doing her homework and playing chess, as Al, Rose and Scor had an all day Quidditch practice for the upcoming last game of the season. Hufflepuff, who were on _spectacular_ form, had flattened Ravenclaw in their game in November, winning by 400 points meaning they leap-frogged to the top of the House Championship and the Cup. If Gryffindor beat Slytherin by more than 50 points they'd go into the break ahead but if Slytherin lost again they would be out of the running. It was going to be a tough game. All in all, Gryffindor's aim was much more achievable because they would have to be 100 points behind to win by a 50 point margin, and Gryffindor had much better chasers and keepers than that, or so they hoped.

"Hey." it was James, he had sat down next to her. Caly wasn't sure whether it was her imagination but he seemed to spend a lot of time hanging around her now, whenever she was in the common room he would come over to her.  
>"Do you not have your own friends?" she asked, only half joking, but also half wondering where the posse of fans that usually followed James around were. He grinned at her.<br>"My friends are over there." he pointed to a corner of the common room where she saw Colin and the Scarmander twins. "However they're being dreadfully dull and doing homework so-"  
>"So you thought you'd come bother me." she said with a sigh. "Don't you have anyone else you can bother? I'm trying to do work too." she gestured at the essay that was nearly finished that she ought to have done in the week but she'd gotten distracted.<br>"Ooh Charms." James had snatched the essay of the table before she could prevent him from doing anything. "This stuff is a doddle." he informed her, rather unhelpfully. Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"Yes, thank you for that James." she said snatching it back.<br>"Tetchy!" he said, his same irritating smirk on his face that really made Caly want to slap him right there and then. Instead she restrained herself by rolling her eyes and saying  
>"Do you want me to tell Colin, Lorcan, Lysander and just the general population of Gryffindor tower of the incident with the pancakes and the glitter." James scowled at her and fell silent, smirking slightly herself she turned back to her essay.<p>

"Do you want help with that?" asked James after 10 minutes of silence, which Caly thought was probably a record for James. Caly, who was so shocked by his offer, dropped her quill, sending splodges of ink across her essay.  
>"What?"<br>"It's a simple request." he said in the tone of voice that you might use to explain something to a very small child. "Do you want me to help?" she raised her eyebrows.  
>"Err, well." she knew James was good at Charms, her chess set was proof of that, but she certainly wouldn't put purposefully messing with her essay past him.<br>"Ahh, c'mon do you really trust me that little?" he said, a playful teasing underpinning his voice. Caly stared at him, giving him her best 'are-you-really-asking-me-that' face. He grinned at her even more and quickly snatched the essay of the table, holding it way above his head out of her reach. Scowling at him, she sat back into the sofa with her arms folded. James' smile, she didn't think, couldn't get any wider as he grinned down at her. "How about I do you a deal." he said.  
>"What?" she said suspiciously.<br>"I do this and then you check it with your friends _and_ if it's all true you have to show me how to beat you at chess." Caly didn't even consider it.  
>"Nope, no way. No Charms homework is worth that." James just laughed at her.<br>"Fine, then you won't get it back." he waved the piece of parchment above his head, smirking at her inability to reach it. Caly tried to grab it lunging forward a couple of times, thrusting herself up into the air but she always fell short, her hand ineffectually scrabbling at his. James laughed, even harder his brown eyes completely alight with mirth as he watched her irritancy with the situation grow.  
>"James!" she exclaimed. "Give it back!"<br>"The deal is still on the table." he said with a wicked grin, knowing she would never ever say yes.  
>"I hate you." she moaned.<br>"No you don't." replied James in a sing song voice. They sat staring at each, James had his grin plastered across his face, feeling much happier than when he'd come over. Suddenly Caly launched herself at James, knocking him off the sofa. They rolled onto the floor and some people in the common room looked around at the thud with mild curiosity. On seeing Caly and James wrestling for a piece of parchment, most set down their quills and began to chant

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" in a good spirited way. The two of them ignored them as they continued to roll around on the floor until Caly had finally pinned James down.

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "I think that makes it 2-0." James scowled, embarrassed no doubt about being shown up in front of all of Gryffindor tower. "Now give me my essay."  
>"No." he said reminding Caly very strongly of the small, incredibly petulant children from her home. "James do you remember the discussion we had last time this happened?" she asked pleasantly, all around them the Gryffindors were cracking up at his plight. James grumbled unintelligibly. Caly smirked.<br>"Can I have that in English, not Troll please." all the Gryffindors roared with laughter and James looked like he quite wanted to murder her.  
>"Yes."<br>"So what do you think you should do?" he slowly handed her the essay. "Thank you James." she sprang to her feet and all the Gryffindors cheered and continued to laugh. Laughing herself, she helped James to his feet. He looked rather disgruntled and he ran a hand through his hair in a distracted manner. He left immediately to Colin and the Twins' corner, sitting down with a brooding look on his face. Caly sank back into her seat whilst several people slapped her back and congratulated her on besting James, smiling she continued to work on her essay.

Her friends finally got back from their long Quidditch practice at 8 when Caly was just about to leave the great hall where she'd been eating with the other second years. None of them said a word when they sat down, instead choosing to grab whatever dish was nearest and shovel it into their mouths. Caly pulled a disgusted face as she watched her friends, who were filthy, practically gorge themselves on pudding, the mains having been taken away before they got there. The other second years, who also wore expressions of distaste, got up to leave, bidding them goodbye as they went but Caly faithfully remained with her friends until they had finished eating.

Al, as they ascended the marble staircase, let out a loud burp.

"Ah." he said, speaking with an air of immense satisfaction. "That was good." Caly raised her eyebrows at him. "If I was struck by lightning now I would've been happy with my last meal."  
>"Honesty." she replied. "The way you were eating looked like you <em>were<em> going to be struck by lightning." Al shrugged and Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"We will be if we don't win." he said heavily.<br>"It's not the last game of the season, though. It's not the final. You can afford to lose one game!" said Caly, trying and failing to understand what on earth went through the mind of Quidditch players.  
>"Oh c'mon Caly." said Rose. "From what I over heard you'd rather fail Charms than let James beat you at Chess." Caly rolled her eyes.<br>"That's different. I'm going to fail Charms _anyway,_ I might as well do it with my reputation intact. Besides that was about me teaching James how to beat me not the same as you going out there and trying your best and loosing. I'd be fine if James beat me fair and square but he won't." All three of them raised their eyebrows at that.  
>"Cocky much." muttered Scor in an audible whisper to the other two. Caly rolled her eyes again.<br>"What I meant is he hasn't beaten me yet and I don't expect him to start anytime soon." the others just rolled their eyes and chortled partly at her arrogance, but also at the likelihood that that statement would become true.

"So." Caly began, once they had reached the fourth floor. "How _was_ Quidditch practice? You're all very muddy." They all rolled their eyes.  
>"<em>That<em>." spat out Scor in an annoyed voice. "Was Maise suggesting we practice our crash lading."  
>"What?" Caly exclaimed, looking at all three of their straight faces, a disbelieving grin lighting up her own.<br>"We're being serious." said Rose. "We spent-what-two and half hours throwing ourselves off our brooms so we'd know the best way to land if we were knocked off."  
>"How are none of you in the Hospital Wing?" asked Caly, amazed.<br>"We don't know, but we're all pretty good at falling and landing in mud." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"And the proper practice?" she asked.<br>"Oh that was good, we played quite well."  
>"I take it that you're trying not to jinx yourselves by not saying that played really well or whatever." the other three nodded. Caly blinked and then shook her head.<br>"You are all insane."  
>"Actually it's just Maise, she's a fanatic." Rose said this really casually that Caly guessed this wasn't the first time someone had questioned the sanity of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.<br>"Great." said Caly sarcastically. "So she's just your captain for another-what- year and a bit."  
>"Hey." said Scor. "On the upside, she's a winner." Caly rolled her eyes.<br>"Whatever, we have another damned riddle to solve." Al looked at her shrewdly.  
>"I thought you liked riddles." Caly sighed and shrugged.<br>"Yeah I do but not, like, all the time."

The four of them once more collapsed around the fireplace, on the worn, red, hearthrug that had definitely gained several more stains since they had started camping out there.  
>"So." said Rose. "Where should we start?" there was a no delay in the time between when they heard that and when Scor said sarcastically<br>"The beginning." everyone simultaneously rolled their eyes and ignored Scor.  
>"Erm, just read out what you wrote, Caly." said Al. Caly fished in her pockets for a little while.<br>"What's in a name? Wonderful I called but wonderful am I?"  
>"Terrible grammar." muttered Scor.<br>"That could be it." said Al, clearly thinking of the first clue. "It could be the grammar." they all shared a look.  
>"Yeah I guess." said Rose.<br>"But.." prompted Al.  
>"It just doesn't fit." said Caly. "I mean they're both questions, that would mean you'd expect them to have answers. It's a riddle, it's a question, it has a separate solution… at least I think it does." Al nodded, sort of getting what they were saying. He rubbed his forehead, he was exhausted. He'd had Quidditch all day and he had a four hour practice tomorrow. Then next weekend was the match and then…<p>

"Hey Caly." he said, she looked up from where she had been gazing into the fire; doing that seemed to be a favourite past time of hers.  
>"Yeah?" she said.<br>"You know you're coming to mine for Christmas, right?" she nearly clicked her neck to turn to look at him.  
>"What?"<br>"Okay." he said, sharing an amused look with Scor and Rose. "I'll take that as no."  
>"I'm coming to yours for Christmas!" she repeated, a tone of excitement in her voice, barely hoping to believe it was true.<br>"Yes Caly." said Al, adopting the same patient tone that James had taken up with her early that day and for once she could the similarities between the brothers. "You see, you may have forgotten that you _lived_ with me over the summer and that you call all the adults in my family, except for my grandparents because that would be weird, 'aunt' and 'uncle'. Baring that in mind can you see why we might assume you knew that you were coming for Christmas." Caly opened her mouth and then closed it several times. Finally she said

"If you assumed why did you check with me?"  
>"Oh." said Al, casually, his tone of voice going normal again. "That was my dad, he said you might have assumed you weren't coming because you're an idiot." Caly frowned.<br>"Your dad said that about me."  
>"Well not exactly, there was a load of waffle in the letter that I didn't get, but that was the general gist of it."<br>"I see." she still sounded doubtful but shrugged it off. "Well I guess I will be coming then to yours even though it wasn't really an offer."  
>"Great!" said Al. "Though I pity you, you'll have to deal with Lily on <em>Christmas morning<em>." he ran a hand down his face. Caly sent him a confused look.  
>"Does she get worse?" she asked tentatively. Al looked at Rose who was just shaking her head.<br>"You… you'll understand." she said, patting her arm. Then she said "Hey! We'll all be together for Christmas!"  
>"We will?" asked Scor.<br>"Oh my god, you guys are _so_ dumb." said Al. "Andromeda would never miss Christmas day with her family, real or invisibly extended."  
>"Invisibly extended?" asked Caly, now really confused. Al shared a look with Rose.<br>"It's better not to ask." Scor frowned.  
>"Oh." he said. "Is that the whole TeddyVic thing?"  
>"Yeah, yeah it is." replied Al, shaking his head.<br>"Okay is there something I'm missing here?" Caly asked trying to work out what was going on.  
>"Alright." said Al. "Time to shorten a really long story."<br>"Basically." said Rose. "You know Vic and Teddy?"  
>"Uh huh." she said wondering what they expected her to say there.<br>"Well at the moment they're 'dating'." Rose put air-quotations around the way dating. Caly blinked then shook her head.  
>"I am so lost."<br>"Okay try this." said Al. "Vic and Teddy were dating, like properly."  
>"Okay."<br>"Then Uncle Bill said no." Caly gave him a perplexed look.  
>"No to what?"<br>"Them dating!" exclaimed Rose. "It's James fault really, but in the name of Merlin's pants don't mention it to him, he's really upset about letting them down."  
>"Anyway." continued Al. "Basically, they are secretly dating. Remember Teddy coming round all the time to see Scor and then he'd vanish to see Vic, well her parents don't know about that, well Aunt Fleur might she likes them together."<br>"So basically they're dating in secret."  
>"Yeah." said Al, pleased she'd grasped that. Caly shook her head.<br>"Why didn't you just say that in the first place!" Al shrugged and made a non-commital noise. Caly nodded then paused.

"Wait a second." she said. "I saw them kiss in front of Uncle Bill." the others all shook their heads.  
>"Really don't ask us what happened in their relationship." said Rose. "We only know the outline, as far as I can gather it's actually quite complicated."<br>"Yeah but when was that?" asked Scor.  
>"Err, Quidditch Final last year." Scor nodded.<br>"I think that's just before he told them no. I think, well like the others said I don't really know what happened." Caly nodded.  
>"But right now they're secretly dating."<br>"Yes." said Rose with an air of finality.  
>"I still don't understand why you didn't just say that originally Al."<br>"I'm tired." he said running a hand through his hair, ruffling it up at the back in a way that reminded of James early, was that a Potter trait for whenever they were embarrassed or nervous or something? "You know what." he said, two seconds later. "I'm going to bed."  
>"Trying to save face?" teased Scor. Al shot him a withering look. Rose climbed to her feet.<br>"I think I might head to bed too, I'm exhausted. Coming, Scor?" she asked as she backed towards the staircase.  
>"Nah. I'm gonna stay here for a moment."<br>"Okay. Caly?"  
>"Nah." Caly knew that now Scor wanted to talk to her about the forest. "You go ahead but for the love of god shower!" Caly called after her and heard Rose shout<br>"Duh!" back. She laughed gently and waited until she had heard both doors close and the sound of footsteps had faded.

"So?" she said turning to Scor. Scor was lying on his belly gazing into the fire. He was watching the flames dance and Caly fell silent remembering what he had told them about his mother after their first, failed, attempt to save her. She knew the significance of fire to him, knew that hope was something he still needed.

"I'm really weak." he said finally. He had bowed his head, he was addressing the ground between his two arms which were bent in front of him, supporting him, ending with his clasped hands. Caly opened her mouth to say that was stupid but decided to wait for his reasoning. "I mean I worry about everything. I'm scared of so much stuff. I cry _all _the time. I'm just, I'm just useless." his head flopped down as far as it would go and Caly sat there processing what he had said. Caly had often heard him say that he felt like he was stupid for crying all the time, an idiot, but not _weak_. And he certainly had never said anything about fear, worry-yes-he'd mentioned how worried he'd been getting over all of this, but never anything about fear.

"What do you fear?" she asked tentatively. He shrugged, raising his head again and casting his eyes, briefly, sideways to her.  
>"I dunno. I fear that this is all gonna end, you know, that one day you're all gonna hate me. I fear that Rose and Al will turn away when they find out the truth and they'll turn everyone else against me, I guess kind off the same thing… but anyway. I'm afraid of the truth." Caly shook her head at his dramatics.<br>"Scor you're scared of little bit of truth, not _all_ of it." he shrugged. "You're scared of a story that others can tell of you." he nodded at that.  
>"I'm worried that the Slytherins will tell people. I'm also deathly afraid of forests, and giants, and centaurs and… thestrals." there was a long silence and then he said. "I guess I'm also really afraid of death." Caly mulled it over for a moment, wondering where to start.<p>

"Being afraid doesn't make you weak Scor. Being afraid is a really sensible thing, most of the time." he looked at her, his head fully turned, a baffled expression on his face.  
>"What?"<br>"It's stupid to not fear anything because, well, most things you have right to fear, doesn't make you weak, makes you sensible and actually quite strong that you can admit to your fear."  
>"But I give in-"<br>"No you don't, I saw you conquer your fear just yesterday."  
>"Only because you made me." Scor argued.<br>"So?" she questioned. "You got a bit of help, not the biggest crime in the universe. I get help on my homework doesn't make me a weak person."  
>"You're talking about entirely different-"<br>"Am I though?" she shot back before he could properly finish his sentence. He considered what she was saying carefully then shook his head.  
>"I don't know." he said. Caly didn't gloat over the fact he had for once conceded to her but instead moved on.<p>

"Look what bothers you about forests? Are you afraid of getting lost?" she said the last part, jokingly, trying to alleviate the sombre atmosphere that had befallen them. However Scor nodded, slightly.  
>"It was… it was my father." Caly stiffened. This just couldn't be good. "He, erm, after <em>it <em>happened and I went, you know." Caly nodded, ignoring Scor's evasive talk-there were still several people in the common room after all. "He tried to scare me back." there was a pause in which Caly reckoned she had very good idea where this was going. "He used to come into my room and enchant it so it looked like a forest. Then he'd tell me all these stories about little children who went into the woods and got eaten by, by…"  
>"Giants." Caly supplied for him. He nodded.<br>"It wasn't for years later, damnit, that I found out Giants don't live in forests!" Caly nodded. "He used to tell me that I'd get lost in the forests and I'd be eaten by Giants or attacked by Centaurs."  
>"But Centaurs don't-"<br>"I know! I know that now! But how was I supposed to know they didn't attack children, then!" Caly raised her hands.  
>"Okay, okay. Look Scor, those fears aren't anything to be ashamed off. That fear is <em>definitely <em>rational. You were _purposely_ scared by your father. You are-well not meant-but, he _meant_ you to be afraid of those things, 'kay?" he looked at her, grey eyes wide.  
>"I-I, I'm being stupid aren't I?" Caly paused for a second then nodded. He sat up, grinning slightly. "Oh Merlin." he said, running a hand down his face. "That's really quite embarrassing, I can't quite believe I did that?" Caly cast him a confused look, tilting her head slightly.<br>"Did what?"  
>"Freaked out." said Scor like it was obvious. Caly snorted.<br>"I hate to burst your bubble but you've been freaking out all year." Scor laughed.  
>"Thank Godric for you, sometimes I think you're the only sane one of us."<br>"Me! Sane!" she shook her head. "Remember what happened when we fell out?" Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"Oh Merlin we're dependent on Al, we're doomed." Caly hit him.<br>"Don't be mean." he just laughed again.  
>"Trust me, you've never slept in the same room as Al." Caly through him a curious look.<br>"Yes I have."  
>"What?" Scor practically yelped. "When was this?"<br>"When you were in the hospital wing."  
>"Oh." he pulled a face. "Well, anyway, he has the weirdest dreams. He once woke us all up because he was yelling in his sleep that we should 'follow our hearts'." Caly blinked.<br>"What was he dreaming about?"  
>"Oh sweets. Honeydukes, which of course you don't know anything about." Caly rolled her eyes, laughing once more.<br>"What is Honeydukes?" she asked, just for the sake of it.  
>"Honeydukes is the best sweetshop ever." she nodded.<br>"Cool."  
>"Anyway, they sell these sugar hearts that you give to people and the sweeter they are the more you like them, or something, and Al said he was dreaming that we, as in the four of us, had been chosen by James, who was like the heart king, to have our hearts turned into sugar and that we had to get them back before they were eaten but someone bought them and we were running around Diagon Alley chasing out hearts." Caly dissolved into hysterics.<br>"Well, you can't fault the imagination." she said through giggles. Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"I think I'm gonna get showered." he said standing. "Thanks." she shrugged.<br>"Nah, don't worry about it."  
>"Oh but I do." she shrugged.<br>"So do I but in the end, they haven't yet. In fact I don't think they will."  
>"Oh." said Scor turning to face her fully.<p>

"Yeah, 'cause if you think about it, they have as much to loose as you, right?" Scor looked at her with an exasperated expression. "Okay, okay, maybe a little less but ruining you isn't worth exposing themselves. It's their fault as well as yours, Scor, the only difference is that you were the one that should have stepped up and stopped it. You were the one that turned away." she shrugged. "I think they enjoy tormenting you, and I think they _do _want us three to find out but exposing you to the whole school, na-ah, far to big a risk for them." Scor stared at her and blinked several times.  
>"I guess." he said, rubbing his forehead slightly. "Oh, I need sleep, we'll talk tomorrow."<p>

Caly nodded and watched him walk off. Shaking her head slightly she focused in once more on the flames of the fire. She could understand why Mrs Malfoy had used fire to comfort her son, not only did it bring light to make it a symbol of hope, and the heat was undoubtedly warming, but just watching it dance was captivating, and strangely comforting. Shaking her head once more, to wake herself as her eye lids drooped she, too, made the climb up to her dormitory, with a very good idea of what to buy Scor for Christmas implanted in her mind.


	10. A Very Potter Christmas

A Very Potter Christmas

The last week of term flew by in a breeze of inattentiveness, excitement and rising spirits. The Quidditch game was on the Saturday, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and, if everyone was still alive from that, the train left on Sunday. Caly was in excellent spirits as they progressed through the last week, as most of the teachers realised that trying to teach them anything this week would be counter-productive she rarely had a chance to wallow in self-pity. Also Scor, after their conversation and following excellent Quidditch practices, was holding his head higher and walking with a lot more conviction. He stared down the Slytheirns in the hallways and they were always delighted to see them stare, shocked at each other, or squirm under his ice cold glare.

On Saturday, Caly awoke to find Rose sitting in bed staring at the red and gold hangings.

"Rose?" she asked cautiously, unused to seeing Rose so still and quiet so early in the mornings.  
>"Hi Caly." she said not looking away.<br>"Erm, hi, can you tell me what you're doing?" she asked cautiously as she sat cross-legged in her own bed.  
>"I'm just looking at the bed hangings, did you know that the lining of this is <em>really<em> badly stitched."  
>"Okay." said Caly, frowning at her friend. "Rose are you okay?"<br>"I'm fine, a little nervous, obviously, but apart from that I'm fine." Caly just frowned at her best friend even more. This wasn't right. She had _never_ seen Rose behave like this before a Quidditch game, not even the final.

"Rose, what is it? I mean I know it's a Quidditch game and Quidditch is important but this game surely can't be. I mean you weren't like this before the final." Rose just shook her head.  
>"You don't understand." she said shaking her head.<br>"Well why don't you tell me, remember that whole discussion about bottling things up we had." Rose didn't smile but she did nod.  
>"This time, this game, is personal." Caly frowned.<br>"Personal?"  
>"Yeah, like, we have to beat the Slytherins to show them that we're so much better, to show them how strong Gryffindor is. To show them that they can bully us and call us names but we're still better than them!" Caly nodded, that could be quite an inspirational speech but in actual fact she was just quite disturbed.<br>"Rose how long have you been thinking like this?" Rose shrugged.  
>"Little while, but don't you see Caly, it's not really me. They don't really, well they don't not hate me but they don't attack me. It's you." Caly was now supremely confused and almost on the verge of thinking that the Rose sitting before her was not the same Rose as the one that went to bed before her last night.<br>"Okay Rosie, how is it me?"  
>"We have to protect you." Caly's eyes went completely wide.<br>"Rose are you concussed?" she asked. Rose looked blankly at her.  
>"How would I be concussed? What on my bed could possibly concuss me? What in this room could? Honestly you're as bad as Al." Caly raised her eyebrows at this, well that was more Rose but she was back to staring at the ceiling. Caly shook her head.<p>

"Rose are you planning on leaving this room?" she asked. Rose nodded.  
>"Whenever you do, it's protection see."<br>"I see." said Caly, now backing away from her friend. Rose was rising, too, ready to come and 'protect' her. Caly, as she backed against the wooden dormitory door, fumbled for the key in the lock that they never used. Once she had retrieved it from the keyhole she whipped open the door, darted outside and slammed it shut, locking it in Rose's face. She could hear Rose banging on the other side but that didn't matter right now. Hurriedly she descended the spiral staircase and entered the common room that was full of Gryffindors with scarves and flags all looking eager for the game. As she ran towards the boys staircase JP, descended from it.

"Good morning Caly."  
>"Bonjour JP." <em>"Hello JP"<br>_"'Ow are you zis morning?" he asked her politely not picking up on her sense of urgency.  
>"Je suis très bien, merci." <em>"I am very well thank you." <em>They often spoke like that, Caly in French and JP in English so that his English improved and so he would never forget French. "Oû sont Al et Scor?" _"Where are Al and Scor?"_ she asked him, slightly hesitantly with French.  
>"In ze dormitory." he replied. "I will go to breakfast. Goodbye."<br>"Merci. Au revoir" _"Thank you. Goodbye"_ she said in return and then took off up the boys stairs quite forgetting, that as boys weren't allowed in girls dormitories, girls wouldn't be allowed in boys. It wasn't until she'd reached the top of the stairs that she realised exactly where she was and that they hadn't turned into a slide, which apparently was what happened if a boy tried to climb the girls stairs. Blinking slightly, pleasantly surprised, she hurried off to find the door labelled _'2__nd__ Year-1' _

When Caly found the right door she knocked once before entering. She could hear the sounds of Scor and Al bickering and nothing else, meaning they were likely alone and dressed. Both Al and Scor, once she'd opened the door, turned and yelped in surprise when they saw her. They were both wearing their scarlet Quidditch robes but Al had one glove on and Scor was missing a boot.

"Caly!" Scor yelled looking at her shocked.  
>"What?" she said, picking her way through the mess that littered the floor around all the beds except Scor's. "It's not like you're naked." the two boys exchanged exasperated looks.<br>"But what are you _doing_ here?" asked Al. "_How_ are you here? We're not allowed in each others dorms."  
>"Actually." said Scor. "The founders thought that boys were more untrustworthy than girls so they only placed that spell on the girls staircase." Caly and Al stared blankly at him. "It's in <em>A New Hogwarts A History<em>." he said shrugging, "Not that you two have read it."  
>"I've skim read." interjected Caly. "But that's not why I'm here."<br>"Good." said Al. "Otherwise all questions of your sanity would be answered." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"Trust me it's not my sanity you need to be worrying about; it's Rose's."<br>"How?" asked Scor, concerned. Caly quickly explained everything that had happened since she'd woken up. The two boys exchanged looks and something that Caly didn't understand passed between them.

"What?" she asked impatiently. "What is it?"  
>"Well, it's something we should've mentioned yesterday." said Al nervously. Scor had closed his eyes and sat on the bed.<br>"Oh Caly…" he murmured shaking his head. "You're going to hate us." Caly made an impatient noise through her nose.  
>"Just tell me what you did."<br>"We were… we were corned by the Slytherin team after practice. This was just us three." said Al. "They said that they were prepared to do a deal." Caly could feel every single particle in her body loosing heat, a cold sensation was sweeping through her as she began to understand where this was going.  
>"They said that they'd convince those five people to leave us, and you, alone if we forfeited the match." Caly's mouth dropped open. What had they done?<br>"What did you say?" she asked, her eyes wide.  
>"I said no." said Scor and Caly breathed a sigh of relief running a hand through her hair.<br>"Oh thank god." she said. "And the rest of you?"  
>"The same but Rose, she thought we were in trouble, she thought we should have said yes, maybe. She kept saying that we'd risked us for Quidditch." Caly frowned, trying to tie everything together. Slowly she nodded.<br>"That makes sense, I think, that would explain why she kept saying we had to win this for me. Why she said she had to protect me." the other two nodded. "What are we going to do?" she asked, panic filling her. Al shook his head and looked at Scor.  
>"Maybe we should find out what she did, first." With nothing better to do, and well aware that Scor and Al had to be down on the pitch in less than half an hour the went back down into the common room; after Scor had found his boot and Al his glove.<p>

"How are you going to get up there?" asked Caly.  
>"Maybe if you brought us up it will be okay." suggested Al. Scor through him a disparaging look. "Well do you have a better idea?" he snapped at him. "My <em>cousin<em> is up there completely out of her mind."  
>"Hey, I know. I can't help being sarcastic." Al rolled his eyes.<br>"You are so lucky we love you like that." the two boys shared grins, until Caly cleared her throat.  
>"Charming and heart warming as this moment is we still need to work out how to get you up there." Scor stared at the staircase.<br>"If we had our brooms we could fly up but we gave them to Maise, again, so she could lock them away, safe." Caly nodded.  
>"I think Al's idea is best."<br>"You're not serious?" said Scor.  
>"I reiterate what Al said, do you have a better idea?" he paused then shook his head.<br>"Okay then, let's go." Caly grabbed both their hands and took the stairs at a run. They made it to the top in about half a minute, panting they looked down at the staircase that was still corrugated.  
>"Wow, I cannot believe that worked." said Scor.<br>"For once I'm right." said Al, raising his arms in mock celebration. Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"C'mon, we need to get you two, preferably three, onto the pitch, soon."<p>

Caly opened the door to her and Rose's dormitory and was promptly knocked onto the floor by Rose who came crashing out. Al grabbed her quickly and pulled her out of the way and Scor picked Caly up off the floor.

"Are you alright?"  
>"Yeah, fine." she said, rubbing the back of her.<br>"Oh Caly, I am so sorry." Rose sounded still a little distant. "I was just trying to get to you." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"Let's get her back in there." Al escorted Rose into the room and sat her down on her bed.<br>"Scor do have any idea what she's done?" he asked, looking up at the blonde boy with big pleading green eyes. Scor bit his lip and shook his head.  
>"I… I don't know <em>everything<em>." he said, looking a little hopeless. "It's almost like she's taken a love potion." Both Al and Caly's eyebrows shot up, Al's disappearing into his messy fringe.  
>"But she hasn't, right?" said Al quickly.<br>"No." it was Caly. "Definitely not, she wouldn't want to protect me."  
>"I think she's cast a spell on herself." said Scor looking at the collection of books that were stacked on her bedside table, in her cabinet, in her trunk or scattered on the floor.<br>"Great." said Al. "Just brilliant. What do we do?"  
>"It might wear off." said Caly hopefully. Scor pulled a face, that suggested he didn't like the idea of leaving it on her.<br>"Yeah but I think it's still best to find out what she'd put on herself." He bent down and began to sift through the books on the floor. Caly bent down too, not sure what she was looking for, she settled for moving aside, onto her bed, the ones Scor had looked at.

"Oh Rosie." they had been sifting through books for 10 minutes, Al had stayed on the bed keeping a firm grip on Rose's arm and talking to her about the weather which seemed to distract her greatly, when Scor sat back on his heels staring down at the pages in his gloved hands.  
>"Scor?" asked Caly getting up and moving over to him, peering over his shoulder to look at the content of the book. She felt her mouth drop open and her heart sink.<p>

_Temporary Memory Charms _headed the page the book had been open at.

"What is it?" asked Al. Scor turned the book towards him and he read the title his mouth dropping open in horror, looking from it and then to Rose. "No." he said. "What has she done?"  
>"Something unbelievably stupid." muttered Scor, his eyes scanning the page.<br>"Well?" asked Al after he had afforded Scor two minutes of silence. "How can we lift it?"  
>"We can't, it's called temporary for a reason, you just have to wait for it to go." There was a heavy pause.<br>"How long?" asked Al.  
>"It doesn't say." said Scor. "It depends on loads of things; how large the memory was, how powerful the caster is, how many memories the person has." he sighed. "This isn't good."<br>"But I don't understand what did she actually do?"  
>"Temporary memory charms, according to this, can be used to either suppress or elevate a memory for a certain space of time." Caly frowned, suppressing memories she got, she used to do it a lot, but how did you elevate them.<br>"What's elevating?" Al asked, just before Caly did.  
>"It says it's when it raises a specific memory above your natural memory. Then it has bracketed next to that 'basic functions'."<br>"What?" asked Al looking really lost and Caly was glad she wasn't the only one who didn't understand.  
>"Basically your 'basic functions' are breathing and the desire to eat and stuff like that. This raises that memory above those in the your bodies list of priorities."<br>"I still don't understand." said Caly. "It's just a memory, though, it surely can't matter where it is on the list of priorities." Scor shut the book, shaking his head.  
>"Look I don't pretend to be an expert but memories are complex things, right? First point done. Second point, a memory isn't just an image, Caly, it's not just a picture or however you view your memories in your mind, it's all the smells and sounds and <em>emotions<em> that go with it. It's why some people don't like pensives, you don't feel what whose memory it is felt."  
>"Pensive?" said Caly, really thrown off track.<br>"It's a device used to view memories." said Al, hurriedly. "But that's not important, carry on explaining."  
>"Well, if Rose used the memory from last night and the sense of protection for you, Caly, that she must have felt got elevated, it suddenly becomes the most important thing to her. Do you see what I'm saying?" Caly began to nod.<br>"But I don't understand why she did it in the first place." she said to Scor who shook his head as he looked down at the closed book.  
>"I'm not sure either."<br>"I think." said Al, hesitant to put in his opinion. "It was because she was scared of what might happen and she wanted to do something to help, and because Quidditch is _very_ distracting she must wanted to make it the most potent element in her mind. I don't think she realised what it would do." Scor nodded.  
>"That would make sense." Caly glanced down at her watch and felt her heart skip a beat.<br>"Guys!" she nearly yelled in panic. "You need to get down to the field _now_! Tell Maise, Rosie is…" she stared at her friend as her other two began to clamber up. "Well tell her something, anything but not the truth." They nodded.  
>"Will you be alright here?" asked Al, as Scor left the room.<br>"I'll be fine. The Slytherins can't get me up her and I'm not wondering the castle with her." he nodded and dashed out after his friend.

The morning went by torturously slowly. With only a completely distracted Rose for company Caly found the hours dragging by and, as there was no way of knowing the score in the Quidditch game, she had to try and distract herself from worrying about the score line. She knew that there had been no problem in replacing Rose with Colin, otherwise Maise would have been storming their dormitory. In the end she reverted to playing chess and singing which seemed to focus Rose immensely.

By 4 o'clock she was sure that either something had gone dreadfully wrong or that it was the longest Quidditch game ever. Just as she was standing to go to bathroom she saw Rose stir. Rose had dropped off at 2:30 and Caly had left her because she guessed that she probably hadn't had much sleep the night before. She watched Rose shift about in the bed and push herself up looking around blearily.

"What?" she mumbled. "Caly?" she asked looking around and spotting her.  
>"Hey Rosie, how do you feel?" Rose rubbed her head.<br>"Groggy." she muttered. Then she noticed the sleeve of her robes. Her eyes went wide. "The match!" she exclaimed.  
>"It's still going on." explained Caly "But hopefully it's nearly over." Rose looked horror struck at her. "It's four in the afternoon." she added. Rose looked like she might faint, she collapsed backwards onto her bed.<br>"Maise's going to kill me." she groaned.  
>"I don't think so, I told Al and Scor to tell her you were ill or something, Colin will have played." Rose lifted her head.<br>"Caly you can't just be ill to miss Quidditch you have to have your mind addled." Caly rolled her eyes.  
>"Well obviously we didn't think it would be a good idea to tell Maise and your overly protective cousins <em>that<em>." Rose looked blankly at her.  
>"What?" Caly blinked, staring at Rose confused.<br>"I said that we didn't think it would be a good idea to tell them that your mind was addled." she swept the book off the floor and flipped to the correct page. Shoving it under Rose's nose she yelled. "What were you thinking Rose? How could you be so stupid?"  
>"I…I." Rose stared down at the book Caly had just dropped in her lap, utterly confused. She didn't remember any of this. Caly turned back to her looking a bit calmer.<br>"What's the last thing you remember?" she seemed to have guessed that Rose couldn't remember.  
>"Going to bed last night, I was excited for the game." Caly gave a her a disbelieving look.<br>"Just?" she prompted and Rose nodded, wondering what else she wanted her to say. Caly breathed out heavily though her nose, practically sighing. "Rosie I know about the Slytherins." Rose opened and closed her mouth.  
>"How?"<br>"Scor and Al."  
>"Oh." Rose stared down at her sheets.<br>"And sort of you, actually, but you weren't making a lot of sense." Rose closed her eyes and sighed, a pained expression on her face.  
>"I don't remember worrying about it or anything like that." Caly stared at her disbelievingly. "I mean I remember it happening, but it's like falling into a pensive, my emotions aren't there." Caly nodded.<br>"Okay." she believed Rose.  
>"Eurgh." said Rose, letting her head flop back onto the pillows. "I need to sleep." Caly nodded and didn't point up she had just slept for an hour and a half.<p>

When Caly came out of the bathroom, she heard the sound of feet, lots of feet. The Gryffindors were returning! Caly could hear sounds of shouting but couldn't tell whether they were cheering or bad-mouthing the Slytherins; or both. She flew to the door of her dormitory and down the stairs, coming to rest on the bottom. The common room was full but somehow they all seem to have been alerted to her presence.

"How's Rose?" asked Scor and Al together just when she asked  
>"How did you do?" they all laughed. "Rose is fine." and there were sighs of relief all the way round the common room. "She's asleep, she doesn't remember anything about today. I mean she knew that the match was supposed to be today but she fell asleep and then she woke up and was better and she thought it was time for the game." everyone winced.<br>"Never mind." said Maise. "Col was amazing, though I won't be replacing Rose."  
>"Good, but did you win?" she asked, nerves twisting her stomach. There was a pause in which everyone looked at each other and then broad grins spread across their faces and a great cheer erupted from the inhabitants of the common room.<br>"WOO!" Caly burst out laughing and launched herself off the top step and at her two friends, flinging her arms around their necks, the three of them falling about laughing.

Most of the packing was done hurriedly on Sunday morning which greatly stressed Rose out. She hurried around the dorm room checking under everything, Caly pointed out that this was pointless as they were coming back and not staying for very long anyway. Rose just scowled at her and threw the book that contained the memory spells at her head. It hit the ground with a thud and the spine broke, however Rose wasn't at all sad; she'd decided that that book was far too much trouble.

When they got on the train, after getting the Thestral drawn carriages through several feet's worth of snow, they were treated to a full break down of the match. It turned out that Gryffindor had been ahead for the entire match, they had superior chasers, but that Slytherin were not at all adverse to cheating. Al had been knocked off his broom three times but each time he'd gotten lucky and managed to hang on until the fall wasn't too great, and he could get back up and on. Scor had been hit by several people during the game, as it seemed that the Slytherins were deliberately trying to knock him off, too, but like Al he was lucky and he actually managed to stay on. The Slytherins had better beaters, not just because Gryffindor were missing Rose, but also because they were completely ruthless. They went out of their way to hit _people_ with their bats and had claimed that because Al's hair was black it looked like a bludger, that was why they'd hit him. Caly was greatly surprised that they were relatively unharmed but Scor had said that in the end, when they _all_-including reserves- had nosebleeds and at least mild concussion, Maise had called time out and they'd gotten themselves fixed up by Madame Pomfrey. Caly was surprised that that was legal but apparently there were 'medi-wizards' at the Quidditch world cup so it was definitely legal in amateur sport. In the end, when Al had finally caught the snitch, the score had been 1070-500. Gryffindor had a substantial lead, now.

"AL!" Lily through the crowd of people, her red hair was down, and she was wearing a long dress, woollen tights and had a thick coat over the top. She threw her arms around his waist and Al let go off his trolley to hug her back.  
>"Hey Lils." she let go off him to look at the other three.<br>"CALY!" she launched herself at Caly next, sending her stumbling back a few paces.  
>"Nice to know who she loves the most." said Scor with a smirk at Rose. Rose shoved him back. "<br>Where's Hughie?"  
>"Hughie, seriously?" asked Caly over the top of Lily's head.<br>"Sometimes, when he annoys me." Caly nodded and was very glad that her ability to breathe was being restored to full function as Lily stepped back.  
>"I'm so glad you're back! Will you tell me all about Hogwarts? Oh, and please, please will you braid my hair, like you did in the summer, please?" Caly rolled her eyes slightly and laughed.<br>"Sure." she said. The others shook their heads, knowing that Caly was in for it now. Lily had launched herself at Rose and then Scor and then they could move down the platform to where Al's parents, Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry, Caly mentally reminded herself, were standing.

"Hey everyone!" said Harry, beaming down at his son, daughter, niece and adopted family.  
>"Hey dad." said Al. "I missed you."<br>"Glad to hear it." Aunt Ginny swooped down and hugged him.  
>"Your parents couldn't be here Rose." said Uncle Harry.<br>"What?" she said, looking a bit upset.  
>"Hugo's at your grandparents, has been for the last couple of days, actually, because you won't be seeing them on Christmas day. Your parents aren't sure when they'll be back, hopefully by Christmas though."<br>"Am I going Uncle Harry?" she asked.  
>"Yes." he said. "But you will be with us at Christmas, hopefully."<p>

"What about Aunt Andromeda?" asked Scor.  
>"Ah, well, she's, you know, getting on so I offered to pick you up." Scor nodded.<br>"Thanks." he said.

"Where is James?" asked Ginny, peering over the crowd, trying to spot him. "Did you see him on the train?" the four of them looked at each other.  
>"I actually didn't." said Al. "He wasn't with Col, or the Twins." there was a pause until Caly said.<br>"I think I did, but I'm not sure if it was him. He was with Mindy." Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"It was him then." Rose nodded.<br>"I really feel sorry for that girl."  
>"Wait Mindy, as in Mindy Fawcett?"<br>"Yes well done Al." said Scor sarcastically.  
>"Isn't she one of the ones that slapped him last year."<br>"No Al, Mindy scratched him. No more than he deserved, obviously." she rolled her eyes and then Rose made a coughing noise. She was looking up at the two adults who were staring curiously down at them and even more so Lily who was frowning at them.

"Errr." said Al.  
>"Why did someone scratch my son?" asked Aunt Ginny. Caly swallowed and exchanged a glance with Scor. Harry, however, was wearing a very amused expression on his face.<br>"Erm." said Rose. She didn't really want to sell James out no matter how much of a prat he was.

"Hello!" their conversation was interrupted by James himself. He was pushing a trolley with his trunk on and looked immensely pleased with himself.  
>"What is with this <em>air<em>?" he asked.  
>"We breathe it." said Scor, rather testily. "Without it we'd die." James rolled his eyes at the blonde.<br>"You know what I meant, why is it all so tense? It's Christmas! We haven't suddenly decided that we're better off without Caly and Scor?" he said it as a joke, he'd meant it as a joke but the reactions of Caly and Scor were rather different. Caly turned pale and took half a step back whilst Scor swung a fist that was intercepted, last minute, by Al.  
>"Scor, cool it, he didn't mean it like that?" turning around to face James he sent him a look that clearly said <em>'You idiot'<em>. James held up his hands and mouthed sorry. Caly still looked rather pale and Rose put both her arms around her, narrowing her eyes at James. Scor took his clenched fist out of Al's hand took a moment to compose himself, rubbing his brow.  
>"James can I give you some lasting advice?"<br>"Shoot away mate."  
>"Never joke about sensitive issues, however trivial they may seem to you." James looked at him and then nodded.<br>"Okay, I can't promise I'll remember that but I'll try."  
>"Well, there's my Christmas present from James done." and with that the tense atmosphere was broken. Caly let out a shaky laugh and let go of Rose, the three boys all grinned and high-fived each other, Lily pouted about being left out and Harry and Ginny were left to wonder over the actions of their children and their friends.<p>

Caly settled back into life at the Potters very well. Whilst it took her a little while to become truly comfortable and the words 'Aunt' and 'Uncle' rolled off her tongue with a slight hesitancy, she did, mainly through the presence of Lily, begin to feel quite at home as Christmas day approached.

The prospect of Christmas day this year was, for Caly, a nerve wracking thought. It was very much like the situation with her birthday but less delicate. She didn't want to intrude upon their family Christmas, that would, no doubt, be filled with routine and tradition but she had a prickling fear of being left out now that she was here. The other worry that clouded her mind on the morning of the 22nd was, once again, the fact that she was penniless. Last year she had brewed them potions from her dungeon and they had definitely been adequate presents, however now she didn't have the dungeon and she felt like the presents would not be adequate for them now that they had welcomed her into their family.

That morning Uncle Harry had announced that they were going to be heading to Diagon Alley to buy Christmas presents. James had moaned and groaned and set off a whoopee cushion but nothing could change his mother's mind. Neither Uncle Harry nor Aunt Ginny had brought up the exchange they had witnessed at Kings Cross but both were highly curious and a little worried about what their eldest child was up to. He was 13 turning 14 after all, he was growing up and he had always been very self assured, never coming to either of them for help. If something was going on he would never ever ask for their help, he would go to Teddy, if he had to go to anyone, but their relationship had been strained as of late. James' accidental reveal of his and Vic's relationship had made things very tense and whilst James was sorry and Teddy said he didn't blame him, things just weren't the same.

Lily had been less subtle about her curiosity towards their exchange on the platform 9 ¾. She had, at first, been openly angry about Caly's remark about James deserving being scratched and been cross with all four of them. That had been…awkward to say the least as Caly was still staying in the same room as her but once Lily cooled down, it took three days, she went to James and James, in a rare moment of clarity that may or may not have had something to do with the fact the rest of the family were in the room next door and could over hear, told her he'd been a little mean to some people and they'd taken out revenge on him. Lily had fired up and asked why James was back with someone who had hurt him and he said, still displaying that rare ability for wisdom, that he'd hurt her first. Lily had left, not entirely satisfied, and he'd looked up to see Al and Caly in the doorway both looking quietly impressed.

Harry sat in his study, filing away a report and hoping that he'd never have to take it out and examine it again. Ron and Hermione, Ron because he was an auror and Hermione because she was head of The Department for Magical Law Enforcement and a very talented witch, had tracked a man across the British Isles, suspecting him to be none other than Gerald Hardingly, the man who had attacked their children last year. It had been exhausting for both of them but there was little doubt that Gerald needed to be taken care of, he was very dangerous man, and not many people were privy to all the information Harry had on him, he didn't want Caly and Scor and their kids getting involved, so he'd sent his best friends. He hadn't been confident though. Ron and Hermione, skilled as they were, were no match for someone like Gerald who seemed to be mentally unstable, someone who had lost everything, someone with nothing to live for. He was right, naturally. Gerald had hurt but, thanks to Hermione's dittany, not killed them both. They were back home with their kids, where they belonged but it was worrying Harry. What did he tell them? It was Christmas, he didn't want to ruin it… but at the same time he remembered being so angry when information, important information had been held from him. They'd killed Scor's mother, they'd killed _him_. It was actually a miracle they weren't all dead. He had to tell them, because they had to be careful.

"Uncle Harry?" he glanced around and saw Caly, he beamed at her.  
>"Come in." he said, spinning around his chair she laughed.<br>"I still can't get over that you have one of those." she said, shaking her head as she sat down.  
>"What can I say magic doesn't do everything." he smiled at her. "Now what can I do for you?" she sighed and looked down at her hands.<br>"Well, I don't really know what you can do for me, I'm just coming here to tell you that I have this problem 'cause it affects you." Harry tilted his head as he examined her, he had never pinned down Caly and he had a feeling he never would. On the one hand she never seemed to want to admit to her problems and feelings and faults, like James, but on the other she was open, she talked about what she'd been through and she did tell what was wrong, like Al. It was odd. He could see both his sons in her, and even his daughter, the confidence, assurance of who she was, that was something Lily had.

"Well do tell." he said.  
>"I, um, well I don't know what to buy any of you for Christmas, except Scor, but that's all sort of irrelevant because I don't have any money to buy anything for you with." she gabbled it out in one breathe and at a tremendous speed. She then flushed bright red and Harry was reminded of Ron and the topic of money when they were at school, this was a sensitive issue.<p>

"I see." he said, sitting back in his chair, stroking his chin. "This is a very serious issue." he seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before saying. "I guess half of it could be resolved if I just did this." he pulled out a money bag from his pocket and handed it to her, in all honesty he had been anticipating this. She looked shocked at the money in her lap.  
>"But I- I can't take your money!" she exclaimed, once she'd regained her voice.<br>"Why not?" asked Harry calmly. "You don't expect to pay me back for the cost of feeding you, do you?" she stared at him, but then shook her head. "Or any other expense of housing you." he leant forward. "How's this, you have a vault at Gringotts in which the school puts any money you don't spend on books and necessary equipment. You have this years worth and last years, if there's enough in there use that and if not…" he gestured to the money bag in her lap. She bit her lip, clearly unsure what to do. "Now." Harry continued before she could argue further. "You said you didn't know what to get anyone except for Scor." he nodded sagely for a minute as if he, too, understood the difficulties that she was facing, "Well, don't bother getting the adults presents." he said casually. "We tend to give one present from myself and Ginny and one from the kids, you can chip in to that, we even choose it generally."

"What about Mr and Mrs Weasley?" she said. "They made me a sweater."  
>"They make everyone sweaters." said Harry. "But I know what you're saying."<br>"So?"  
>"How about I think over that." he said with a small grin, turning back to his desk and pulling out a ink and parchment.<br>"What are you doing?" she asked him.  
>"You think my kids have never come to me asking about this before, and if it's James it's Christmas eve." Caly smirked.<br>"So what are you doing?"  
>"I." said Harry as he continued to write on the parchment. "Am drawing up a list of who you need to buy for." she nodded. He turned the parchment towards her to show her the list that had the names;<p>

_Mr and Mrs Weasley-, Vic-, Dom-, Louis-, Molly-, Lucy-, Freddie-, Roxie-, Rose-, Hugo-, James-, Al-, Lily-, Scor- _

"Happy?" he asked as she read it.  
>"Shouldn't I get Teddy something?"<br>"Oh, well, yeah, you know him well don't you." Harry added a name to the top of the list.

_Teddy-_

"And what about you and Aunt Ginny, I mean I know you said don't get the adults anything but I am _living _with you." Harry just shrugged.  
>"It's up to you."<br>"Pass it over." the parchment and quill exchanged hands and soon the list bore two new names and one present.

_Uncle Harry-, Aunt Ginny-,… Scor-Everlasting lighter_

Harry frowned a little when he saw it. "Didn't he give that to you so you wouldn't keep, what was expression Al used, 'poaching' his fire?" Caly smiled at that.  
>"Yeah, but I'm giving it to him for different reasons." Harry looked at her than nodded, there was no need to unnecessarily pry into someone else's life.<p>

"So how about we start with my family then." he said.  
>"Okay." Caly replied, eager to get this done quickly, both of them were aware that they needed to head off shopping some time today with the others. "So for James…"<p>

At the end of half an hour, Caly was quite surprised at the time, but wasn't sure whether that was because it was a long time or a short time in comparison to how long she'd been thinking about it, they'd come up with a list that looked something like;

_Uncle Harry-, Aunt Ginny-New gingerbread men shapes, Teddy-Something from WWW, Mr Weasley-something muggle, Mrs Weasley-a photo frame, Vic-Some kind of plant, Dom-Scarf that isn't in any house colour (best choice purple/pink), Louis-Muggle children's book (best to look at selection), Molly-Gloves, Lucy-Something flowery, Freddie-Explosion proof cloak (do they exist?), Roxie-Earmuffs, Rose-Macbeth, Hugo-Cannon's year through posters, James-A book on how to win at chess, Al-, Lily-New Harpy poster, Scor-Everlasting lighter _

She obviously hadn't been able to put anything next to his name because then the present wouldn't be a surprise but neither of them could think of anything to get Al, that other people weren't getting him. Present buying, in the giant Weasley/Potter family, was a complicated thing and some of the things on there, like Freddie, Dom and Roxie's presents, were there because they had been suggestions and no one else had bought them.

The six of them flooed from their kitchen to the Leaky Cauldron. The barmaid, who last summer Caly had discovered was Hannah Longbottom; Professor Longbottom's wife and Ally and Frank's mum, waved at them from behind the bar and Ally and Frank, who were both sitting at a table with their younger twin siblings, winked at them as they went through. All the people in Leaky Cauldron turned their heads to stare at both Harry and Ginny and several got up to shake their hands and a small boy of five asked for their autographs.

Somehow, magically, Diagon Alley was completely void of snow when the stepped onto the busy shopping street. It was filled with last minute shoppers and each shop window was filled with the promises of bargains.

"I think." said Harry, looking over the crowd, many of whom were looking at him. "We should head straight to Flourish and Blotts."  
>"What about Gringotts?" Caly was very grateful that it was James who asked why they weren't going to the Wizarding bank.<br>"Look at this place, James, it's packed. It'd take hours to get in and out, no, we should have enough with us." turning to Caly as if sensing her protest. "Another day we can deduct what you spent from bank account." she nodded and they pushed through the cloaked shoppers to the bookstore, Ginny keeping a firm grip on Lily's hand and Al had holding onto Caly's sleeve so he wouldn't loose her.

Inside the bookshop was even more busy than outside. People were pushing and shoving, attempting to reach the shelves.

"Why is it so hectic?" asked Caly. "It's not Christmas eve, there are still several days to go."  
>"This is the largest Wizarding shopping street in Britain. Some people have travelled a long way to get here." said Al. "No doubt they don't want to come back, and it isn't that much before Christmas." Caly was about to ask why Wizards celebrated Christmas, as far as she could work out they didn't believe in God, but then Uncle Harry said<br>"Right, you three." he pointed to Al, Caly and James. "You can all go and buy your stuff but stick together, please. We'll meet back here in." he pulled a battered watch from his pocket. "half an hour." they nodded and pushed away to a empty area next to the books on Divination to talk.

"So." said Caly, pulling out her list. "What do you guys need to get?" there was a pause in which Al looked at James and James looked at Al.  
>"Err." said Al after a pause. "We don't know what we're going buy, we normally get dad to do it, he's good with gifts. We didn't think he'd send us off on our own." Caly rolled her eyes.<br>"You are very lucky I have this." she waved the list at them and both the boys eyes brightened.  
>"Excellent, you have one of dads lists." said James.<br>"Yeah I have one of Uncle Harry's lists and I- oh no!" she said, closing her eyes and cursing slightly under her breath.  
>"What?"<br>"I don't have any money, the little I have is in my vault. Your dad said he'd lend me some but he's forgotten to give it to me." there was a pause then Al said.  
>"I know. You give us the ideas and we'll pay for them. Me and James don't have much but between us we should be okay."<br>"I can't-"  
>"Yeah you can." James cut across. "It's a fair exchange." Caly shook her head.<br>"I'm not going to win this am I?" both boys shook their heads. "Okay, but neither of you can look at the list." Caly didn't want to admit to Al she didn't know what to buy him.  
>"Fair enough, where to?" asked Al.<br>"The muggle section."

They left Flourish and Blotts less than half an hour later after Harry decided that it was too crowded in their, and they'd finished their shopping. In the bag Caly was holding was a copy of the play _Macbeth_, the book _The Railway Children _for Louis and, after getting Al to distract James, _A Beginners Guide to Winning Chess_ for James, Al had laughed so hard when he'd heard what she wanted to give him. Harry, leaving Ginny and Lily to shop for the adults, lead them down the street to Madame Malkins. There Al displayed that he, too, was greatly immature when he and James tried to wrap each other up in the scarves. They were nearly thrown out but Caly hurriedly made her purchases, a purple fluffy scarf for Dom, leather gloves for Molly, a green scarf with pink flowers hanging off the end for Lucy, an explosion proof cloak for Freddie (they actually existed) and red fluffy earmuffs for Roxie. They quickly headed along to Quality Quidditch Supplies and bought the posters for Lily and Hugo. After that they hunted the street for a curiosities shop that might contain the remaining items. They found one, right at the end opposite Ollivanders; Ogdburg's Shop of Oddites, that had everything they were looking for. The template gingerbread men protested profusely about being packed away and had to be frozen, the silver and gold picture frame told Al to get new glasses, Caly found a Tempestas Lector; they had huge green leaves and predicted the weather and a when she picked up the silver lighter James frowned, knowing she had one, but Al, after staring at it for a moment, simply murmured  
>"That's genius."<p>

Once more they hurried through the packed street, nearly loosing Harry twice, to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was the busiest shop on the street. However when George saw his brother-in-law and his nephews and Caly enter he dropped what he was doing and came over.

"What can I get for you?" he asked cheerfully.  
>"Something for Teddy." said Harry in a loud voice, over the cacophony of screaming and yelling children.<br>"Ah." he nodded, apparently deeply in thought. "I have just the thing." taking them towards the counter he ducked behind it and returned with a pouch of something. "Here." he handed it to Harry who examined the contents with a grin.  
>"That's perfect."<br>"What is it dad?" asked James.  
>"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder." supplied his Uncle. "Very popular in the war, not so much after, that's some of the last I have left."<br>"So how much do they owe you?" asked Harry and after some bartering between the adults, they left with Teddy's present.

"James." Caly muttered.  
>"Yes."<br>"I haven't got your dad or your brother a present yet." he frowned and then saw them standing not very far away.  
>"Ah, I see." then his eyes widened. "Does that mean you've got me one?" Caly rolled her eyes.<br>"Yes but never mind. The point is, is that they're not on my list and how are we going to choose with them standing right there?" James seemed to deliberate the point for a second before asking  
>"Have you gotten everyone else a present?" she shook her head.<br>"Not your granddad we were going to get something from the muggle world." he nodded and then ran up to his dad.  
>"Dad!" he said. "Mum just passed and she wants me and Caly to come with her to help choose a present, can you go into the muggle world and pick Granddad's present with Al?" he was pointing at a red head that was moving at a slow pace in the opposite direction and could be their mother.<br>"Alright." said Harry. "But don't get lost."  
>"I won't, just make sure Al doesn't screw up the present buying!"<br>"JAMES!" his father called back in admonishment but he'd already grabbed Caly's hand started to pull her through the crowd.

"Yes." they said together when they got away hi-fiving each other.  
>"So." said James, "Do you actually have any ideas?" he asked looking only mildly curious.<br>"Nope." she replied. "I was kind of hoping you'd help, you've known them longer." James nodded.  
>"Well dad is literally the best and worst person to buy for because he seems to like everything and you can't tell whether he's being genuine or not." Caly nodded.<br>"Anything more helpful?"  
>"We could get him a model Nimbus 2000?"<br>"A model what?" asked Caly.  
>"It's a broom, it's out of make, but it was the first broom my dad owned."<br>"Cool let's go."

They went to Quality Quidditch Supplies and purchased, with the dwindling gold in James purse, a flying model of the Nimbus 2000. With just Al left to buy for they wandered up and down the Alley street looking for inspiration. Eventually James came to a stop by the Magical Managerie staring in the window, Caly came to a stop with a sigh.

"C'mon James, we need to get Al a present and then find your mum."  
>"There." he was pointing in the window at a furry ball of fluff that, unlike the rest that were a custard colour, was black.<br>"You want to buy Al a ball of fluff, are you serious?" she asked him, incredulously.  
>"It's not a ball of fluff." said James. "It's a puffskein."<br>"A what?" she asked, following James into the Magical Managerie.  
>"A puffskein, they're the best pets, they loved to be cuddled and they eat <em>anything<em>."  
>"How do you know all this?" asked Caly, crouching down in front of the cage to stare at the black one.<br>"Care of Magical Creatures." he said casually.  
>"You pay attention in class?"<br>"It's Hagrid's class." he said, as if that explained everything and it basically did.  
>"Oh yeah." James stood up and called over one of the shop assistants who was more than happy to help James Potter purchase a puffskein, even giving them a discounted cage.<p>

"Are you sure Al _wants_ a puffskein?" asked Caly when he was about to pay.  
>"Trust me he does, this is why Lily practically owns his owl. He plans to give it to her next year." satisfied with that answer they let the subject drop and walked out of the Managerie and straight into Ginny and Lily. She wasn't at all pleased that they were walking around by themselves but softened a lot when she saw what they'd bought Al, it seemed Al really wanted a puffskein.<p>

They met with Harry and Al as they were coming out of Flourish and Blotts, they had been getting something for Billy and Cassey. They flooed, rather less comfortably because of the bags, back to Grimuald place and collapsed down onto anything soft, exhausted after the trip but definitely looking forward to Christmas day.

Caly was awoken on Christmas day by a very loud scream. Sitting bolt upright she looked around in panic, then she noticed Lily had unwrapped a present and was screaming at what it was. Blearily she rubbed her eyes and checked her watch, it was half five in the morning. Groaning and rubbing her eyes she pulled on her dressing gown and left the room, Lily completely unaware of her presence the entire time.

"Morning." downstairs, all in their pyjamas and dressing gowns were James, Al, Ginny and Harry.  
>"Mo-mo-morning." she said yawning. Collapsing into the seat next Al she was pleased to smell pancakes, just what she needed.<br>"Sorry about Lily, she gets _very _excited and because she gets, sort of, stocking presents, she's up early." Caly shrugged.  
>"Doesn't matter." Harry nodded.<br>"We'll be heading to the Burrow at about 8. Lily will be down about six, we'll spend half an hour at least looking through all her presents, then we can all spend a _long_ time in the shower." there was a round of nods. The breakfast was served but no one had the energy to make conversation.

At six on the dot Lily came dashing into the kitchen, her arms filled with the small 'stocking presents'. She dumped the excitedly on the table and began to talk at about 100 miles per hour. She barely noted the pancakes that were placed before her as she talked through how great each present was, taking bites where you might be expecting her to breathe. It took much longer than half an hour, in fact it was 6:50 by the time she was done.

"I call first dibs on the shower!" shouted James, the moment she'd stopped speaking, and practically flew out of the room. There was a round of eye rolling.  
>"Second dibs." said Al absentmindedly, where he was picking at the bowl on the table.<br>"Third." said Caly, though she thought the whole thing was very silly.  
>"Lils?" asked Harry. "What place do you want?"<br>"Next." she was busy with her Quidditch action figures. Harry shrugged, then immediately said.  
>"Fifth."<br>"_Potter!"_ Caly and Al, dissolved into laughter around the table, lack of sleep and high sugar levels fuelling their hysteria.

After they'd all showered, which took a very long time, they were running half an hour late.

"It doesn't matter, though." Al said to Caly. "8's really just the earliest time you can come. Most people turn up around 9." she nodded, slightly nervous about this.  
>"Okay, take the powder and say-"<br>"Mum we know how to floo." said James in an exasperated voice. "Can we just go?" Ginny blinked once at her son and then said  
>"Right, okay, James you first." James thrust his hand into the pot and stomped into the fireplace.<br>"The Burrow." he grunted and was gone in the green flames.  
>"He's fine." said Harry seemingly reading his wife's mind. "He's a teenager who hasn't had much sleep, you can't expect him to be jumping over the moon." he smiled at her as she nodded, not quite reassured. "Al, Caly you two next." Al dipped his hand in and vanished seconds later. Caly followed him.<p>

She fell straight out of Mrs Weasley's fireplace, the world spinning around her and coughing slightly. She wasn't very good at travelling with floo powder, she had a bad habit of breathing in the soot.

"Got you." said Al, catching her so that she wouldn't crash into the wooden table. She smiled at him as he set her right on her feet and the world stopped spinning.  
>"I hate flooing."<br>"Yeah me too." said Al, letting go of her now that he was sure that she wouldn't fall. "I much prefer brooms." Caly shuddered.  
>"Actually I take that back, flooing isn't that bad." Al laughed and they walked into the living room.<p>

In the living room was a giant Christmas tree that had been laden with decorations; an ugly angel nestled on top, candy canes and glittering baubles from the branches and real fairies lit it up. Beneath the tree were mounds of presents for each member of the extensive family. Sitting on the sofas or the floor or in the comfy armchairs were Vic, Dom and the rest of their family, Scor, his great aunt and Teddy and Mr and Mrs Weasley. At the moment Andromeda occupied an armchair at the far side of the room, Mr and Mrs Weasley were sitting on the first sofa and Uncle Bill, Aunt Fleur and Vic sat on the other. Dom was perched on the arm of the sofa next to her sister and Louis was lying on the floor next to Teddy where they playing chess against Scor. James, who had arrived just before Caly and Al, was standing before his grandparents probably having just been released from a hug. Mrs Wealsey got up again and hurried over to wrap Al and, Caly was quite surprised, herself in hug. She was then attacked by Lily who screamed  
>"GRANDMA!" very loudly. Caly sank down next to Scor to join the chess game as James joined Teddy and Louis. After a bit of deliberating Al sank down on the other side of Caly.<p>

Over the next half an hour more relatives arrived. The adults sitting down, or standing, chattering pleasantly. The children either watching or participating in the epic chess battle that was taking place. It was Caly, Al, Scor, Hugo and Roxie vs. Teddy, Louis, James, Rose, Freddie and Lucy. Things were reaching an exciting climax. Caly and her team had cornered James' and the others in a check in which the only way out would lead to checkmate. James sighed as he moved his King and Caly moved her knight.

"Checkmate." the five of them said in unison. The King threw his crown to the floor of the chess board. There was a great cheer from the surrounding people.  
>"Beat you again." said Caly sticking her tongue out at James. He rolled his eyes.<p>

"Presents." said Mrs Weasley, bustling forward. Everyone backed into a circle and Al dragged Caly with him. Scor was pulled down next to Teddy. "Alright, Teddy you first." Teddy didn't roll his eyes at still being treated like a child, instead he just reinforced that he still was child like when he dived for the first present in his pile. Ripping off the wrapping paper, he burst into a grin.  
>"Thanks Uncle Harry!" he said examining the wand holder that fitted up his sleeve. Harry smiled at him.<br>"Don't wear it all the time!" he said with a chuckle, however Teddy was already strapping it onto arm.

"Scorpius." called Mrs Weasley. "You next." slightly nervously he picked up the small package on top of the pile. Sharing a grin with James and Al, she realised that it was their present. He unwrapped it carefully and when he saw it his eyes filled with tears. Slowly he flicked the lighter, the flame appeared and he gazed at it. Scor smiled a watery smile at the three of them.  
>"Thanks guys."<p>

After that they simply went round the room opening their presents one by one. After all the children, ending with Lily, had opened their first present it snaked around to Aunt Ginny and the other adults. Everyone was happy with their presents, with exclamations of delights and lots of smiles all around. Caly received lots of books on potions and plants as well as a new watch that was water and fire proof and guitar strings that were made of unicorn hair, meaning they were practically unbreakable. Al, when he took the cover of the cage of his puffskein, let out a scream of happiness. Turning around he threw himself at Caly and James, hugging them both tightly. He then opened the cage and let the jet black fluff ball hop onto his finger.

In that afternoon Caly had never felt like more of a part of a family. After presents they ate far too much turkey, roast potatoes and stuffing. After that she helped distract Uncle Bill with Scor and Al to let Vic and Teddy get some time alone. Then, when they were able to move properly, there was a fierce snowball fight between the adults and the children. Soaking wet and freezing cold they re-entered the house to have hot chocolate and biscuits that were warm from the oven. They sat around the fire in the living room and listened to Uncle Charlie's tales of dragons. He especially enjoyed telling them all about the time when Uncle Harry and Aunt Hermione had smuggled a dragon through the castle and up to Astronomy tower.

By the time it was 7 o'clock Caly was feeling very warm and very tired. Al was leaning against the sofa his puffskein nestled against his neck where it sat on his shoulder.  
>"What should I call him?" he asked sleepily.<br>"My dunno." replied Scor who was lying lazily on the floor a book open.  
>"Name him after a headmaster." suggested Rose who was reading Macbeth.<br>"It's definitely a he, right?" asked Al.  
>"Yeah." said Caly. "We checked."<br>"Okay then, what should I call him?"  
>"I 'gree with Rose." said Caly, she was leaning on the sofa next to Al with another book open.<br>"Okay give me the name of a Headmaster then."  
>"Phineas." muttered Caly, thinking of the irritating portrait in Grimuald Place.<br>"Phineas the puffskein." muttered Rose. "Interesting ring."  
>"You want Al to name his puffskein after the <em>least <em>popular Hogwarts Headmaster ever." said Scor in disbelief.  
>"Why not?" replied Caly. Al seemed to consider.<br>"Phineas. You know what, I think I'm going go with it." there was a short pause in which Al grinned like an idiot. Scor rolled his eyes.  
>"Your choice, Al."<p>

By 8:30 they'd been there for 12 hours and Lily had fallen asleep, along with Lucy , Louis and Hugo. The families decided that now was the time to head home. Al, too, was looking very sleepy too and he weakly protested about putting Phineas in the cage. They flooed home and all collapsed into their own beds, except for Lily who was placed, still fast asleep, into hers. Caly barely had time to think about the day that had happened because she had dropped into sleep almost instantly.


	11. Wonderful

Wonderful

The rest of the Holidays flew by. James, who had been mortally offended by the present that Caly had bought him, had spent most of the days hauled up in his room and came out on the last day to play a game of chess that lasted up until New Year and in which he came the closest he'd ever come to beating Caly. Al completely fell in love with Phineas, his puffskein, taking him everywhere on his shoulder and talking to him instead of everyone else. Caly spent most her time reading the books she'd been gotten for Christmas and looking forward to going back to Hogwarts, when Lily wasn't nagging her to do something with her.

They caught the train, on the 2nd January, back to Hogwarts. Lily cried when the scarlet steam engine pulled away but they all pointed out that by this time next year she'd have already been on it. There was an odd feeling in Harry's stomach as he watched the train pull away; a mixture of worry and guilt. He hadn't spoken to any of them about the sightings of Gerald. They had all been so happy and a very large part of him could not bring himself to destroy that happiness. He hadn't been anywhere near Hogwarts, they were safe, as far as he could tell.

The next day was Wednesday and, as classes began straight away, their first lesson back was Defence Against the Dark Arts. Caly often found herself loosing attentiveness very quickly in Professor Longbottom's lessons because, whilst he was most people's favourite teacher, he liked a practical approach, and to tell the same stories over and over. The problem with Defence Against the Dark Arts was that she wasn't exempt from doing magic, like Transfiguration, but, in fact, Professor Longbottom encouraged it. He was sure she just needed a bit of confidence, though how she got confidence from constant humiliation she wasn't sure. The other downside of Defence Against the Dark Arts was that your partner was randomly picked and, if you were unlucky, you could land someone from Slytherin or vice versa.

"New partners!" declared Professor Longbottom with a grin as he walked into the classroom. Caly wasn't the only person that groaned, at the moment she was paired with Michael Stone and as he was hopeless at DADA they goofed around for most of the lesson. None of her friends looked happy either because, Rose and Scor had landed each other which was just funny to watch and Al had Martin who he took a certain pleasure in hexing. Martin didn't care if he was hit by something, he was like a bouncy ball, down one moment, springing back up the next. It was actually quite unnerving.

"Okay, so I want a bit more inter-house unity." more groans. "So you're _all_ partnered up with someone from the other house." there were lots of groans and complaints at this. Some of Slytherins jeered. "Tut, tut." said Professor Longbottom. "You'll need a better attitude than that to achieve in life." shaking his head he pulled out a piece of paper. "Right then can we have Sheridan Bletchly with Scorpius Malfoy." Caly was pretty sure her jaw nearly dislocated, it dropped open so fast. Scor had gone pale; sickly, ghostly, pale. His hands shook as he stared in disbelief at his Professor. He exchanged a glance with Caly before looking once at Bletchly, he was smirking, just slightly. Scor's jaw tightened, he swept his books off his desk and slammed them down next to Bletchly.

"Thank you Scorpius. Next Martin Creevy with Natalie Pucey." Caly watched poor Marin pale as the Natalie flounced over to him. He turned around and looked wide eyed at Al who shrugged unhelpfully. None of the other tormentors' names were called out after that, until…

"Catalina Hautly."

"Caly." she said rubbing her temples, a pained expression on her face. He blinked at her once before saying.

"Caly Hautly with Monica Vaisy." Uh oh. The thought flashed through her mind the moment the other name was called. Monica flipped her long hair and dropped into Scor's desk. There was more horror to come when Professor Longbottom paired 'Albus Potter and Andrea Zabini' and 'Rose Weasley and Timothy Nott'. All the Slytherins all looked relatively pleased with these arrangements, Caly, however, was pretty sure she had discovered her least favourite lesson all over again.

* * *

><p>"Wonderful!" spat Scor as he came storming out of Defence Against the Dark Arts, the moment the bell had gone for break. "Just bloody wonderful!"<p>

"How bad was it then?" asked Al, jogging to keep up with Scor who was striding down the corridor, determined to put as much distance between him and the classroom as possible.

"Terrible." muttered Caly.

"Nott was acting like Christmas had come all over again." said Rose bitterly, she was moving at a slower pace behind Al and Scor to keep up with Caly who was moving rather gingerly. "What happened to you?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing, except being repeatedly thrown into a wall." the other three winced. Scor slowed down and Al fell back into step next to her.

"What was he using?"

"Expelliarmus."

"I could go and-"

"No Al!" said Caly, shaking her head firmly. "You were lucky to get away with it the first time. Don't go attacking them." Al shrugged but continued to look very concerned as she hobbled along.

"How could Neville let that happen?" he exclaimed.

"He was rather distracted by Martin and Pucey." said Caly through gritted as they made their way down the marble staircase.

"Oh." said Al. "I see." No one was quite sure what had happened between the two off them but somehow Martin had ended up on fire and Pucey had stinging warts covering all her exposed flesh.

"How did they do that to each other?" mused Rose.

"It's called ineptitude." Scor seemed to have calmed down a great deal.

"What was up with you and Bletchly? _I _could see you were rowing and I spent half the lesson on the floor." Scor shrugged.

"Me and Sheridan can't get on anymore." he said this very casually and both Rose and Al stared at him. "It's like we're the opposites of each other, I guess. There was once a time when we were very similar, so similar and that's why we're so different, he could be me and I could be him but we made our choices. We made them a long time ago, we separated and we never looked back. Well that's not true, I look back all the time, and he is, definitely." Rose and Al gaped at him open mouthed.

"So when you said that they were acquaintances you were lying." said Al. Scor tilted his head.

"Not really, I'm talking about when I was about seven years old."

"Scor does this have anything to do with-" Rose's sentence was cut off by the warning bell. The four of them sprung to their feet and hurried off to Charms, Caly ominously aware of what Rose had been about to ask.

Charms was a pretty great lesson to have really. Professor Flitwick was so old that he couldn't see to the back of the classroom and he certainly couldn't hear anyone in the second row back. The Ravenclaws took up the front rows anyway so it wasn't really their choice to sit out of range of his sight and hearing, it was more a happy coincidence. They, with the exception of Rose, liked to mess around and then copy off someone else later, or make a bargain with James.

Today, however, was an exception because it seemed that, though it was their first day back, Scor already had problems.

_**Caly! SM. **_

The note bounced onto her desk and she picked it up and unfolded it, on reading her name and the initials, she leant forward and mouthed

'What?' at Scor. Scor held up a hand and began to write on a piece of paper. Al raised an eyebrow from where he sat between them. She shrugged at him. Scor, thankfully, had good aim, as he was a chaser. The next note landed right in front of her. She unfolded it and read

_**What am I going to do? Rose wants to know about it! She's onto me I swear!**_

Caly rolled her eyes at the clear panic portrayed on the piece of paper. She dipped her quill into the ink and wrote back, below it

_Scor you need to calm down. Rose can't be 'onto' you. She just wanted to know if you and Bletchly becoming enemies had anything to do with what happened. That doesn't mean she knows what actually happened. … Out of interest did it? CH. _

Her aim was not nearly as good as his and it nearly flew off the front of his desk. She watched his reaction as he read what she'd said. He seemed to roll his and wrote back quickly.

_**What do you think? Of course it bloody did! Why do you think this whole thing started?**_

Caly breathed out through her teeth impatiently. His attitude was starting to bug her.

_Listen Scor, I am your friend and I am here to help. I can get that you can only off-load your stresses onto me but I can't accept you shouting unnecessarily at me. I do have my own problems to deal with without you adding yours on top, because somehow you always seem to leap to the top of my priorities pile. _

The next note she got wasn't from Scor but from Al.

_Could you two try being a little more discreet? Flitwick is heading this way and he'll put us all in detention. ASP. _

Caly smiled at Al's attempt to look out for his friends and passed it back him. He glanced at it and saw on the bottom she had scrawled;

_Yeah, sorry. Pass it to Scor. Thanks. _

He passed it on as Scor threw his note to Caly, Al rolled his eyes, that was going to get them caught. Caly read Scor's reply eagerly, knowing that emotions were running high and tempers were fraying.

_**Right, sorry. We should probably both calm down or we'll end up rowing again. **_

Scor didn't have time to gauge her reaction because he had something from Al resting on his desk. Unfurling it he read what both Al and Caly had written, looking up he saw that Flitwick was a row away. He hastily wrote.

_**Right okay, but how?**_

_Don't throw_

Was the instant reply he got from Al.

_**Okay but you'll have to pass. **_Flitwick was at Rose's desk and Al quickly passed him two notes, his and the one from Caly.

_Don't worry I didn't read., I didn't want to corrupt my innocence._

Scor scowled at Al who was grinning slightly. He flipped to Caly's hoping it would be more useful.

_That's cool. We'll talk after lunch._

Flitwick was not impressed by the amount, or lack, of progress they'd made. He gave all three of them extra homework and Rose looked at them all disapprovingly. When he was gone she sent a message to Al and the other two crowded round it.

_**You guys shouldn't spend your time passing notes. This stuff is important. What happens when I don't want to share my class notes with you? You won't have anything to work with. All you'll have are those stupid notes that you spent your time passing. RW**_

She received one word replies from each person.

_Hypocrite_

_**Hypocrite**_

_Hypocrite_

* * *

><p>"Well that was a brilliant lesson." said Scor enthusiastically. He seemed much better now that Caly had promised they'd talk.<p>

"I don't know what you're talking about?" said Rose, in a very annoyed voice. "How can you be so immature, Scor?" Scor blinked and took a step back. She suddenly threw a hand over face and ran off crying. They all blinked after her, not entirely sure what was going on. It wasn't like Rose to randomly burst into tears.

"Um." said Scor, turning to the other two. "Did I do something wrong?" Al shrugged.

"I think one of us should go after her." they both looked at Caly who was actually half way down the corridor, sprinting in the direction Rose had gone. Both boys stared at Caly's receding head then turned to each other.

"So.." said Al. "Lunch?"

"Excellent!" said Scor throwing his arm around Al's shoulders, Al looped his arm around Scor's and the two sauntered off to the Great Hall.

"James!" called Caly, spotting him through the crowd.

"Caly." said James coolly, he still hadn't forgiven her for the present.

"James do you have the map?" James looked at her than burst out laughing. Caly who desperately needed to find Rose, but had lost her was not at all impressed with his reaction. When James had managed to control his laughter he said

"Caly I don't carry the map around with me, I can make it to lessons and back without direction." Caly gaped at him, she had always assumed that James would keep the map on him always.

"Well… well, that's just useless!" she exclaimed.

"It's charming to help you too." he replied, walking off with his friends, shaking his head and laughing.

Caly let out a frustrated groan, stamping her foot, as the hallway cleared. Where could Rose be? Why had she even run off crying in the first place? Why was she so angry at Scor? Caly, too, had been passing notes and Al had even gotten involved in the end. What was up with her?

Hurrying off down the corridor Caly looked left and right into the little alcoves that housed the suits of armour and could, potentially, hide a crying child. However Rose wasn't crouched in any of them and Caly was about to pronounce it a wild goose chase, she had no idea where Rose might have gone when she spotted a girls bathroom. A smile alighted her face as she realised that that was the other popular place for crying people to go.

Carefully pushing open the door she looked around the seemingly empty bathroom.

"Rose?" she called out. The sound echoed off the white tiles as she made her way towards the stalls. "Rosie are you in here?" there was no response and Caly was about to turn and leave, there were lots of bathrooms in Hogwarts therefore Rose could be in any of them, when she heard a small sniffle.

"Okay Rose, I'm pretty sure I know you're there so if you don't open up I will make you." there was a pause and then the door of the last stall creaked open.

Out came Rose, her face was streaked with tears. Her eyes were red and her nose was running in a very unpleasant way. Her hair looked wild, like it did when she'd just woken up or played Quidditch. Caly felt entirely out of her depth; what was going on?

"Rosie." she said, trying to bridge the silence that had suddenly sprung between them. Rose just stood there for a moment staring at Caly, until she said

"I'm useless." and all the tears came pouring back down her face. A very tiny part of Caly was tempted to roll her eyes, what was with her friends and their poor self esteem? True Scor hadn't ever mentioned it again but that didn't mean he didn't feel it, she knew she felt like that sometimes, they should start a club.

"Rose."

"No really." she said. "Think about it. I study so hard but what for?" Caly frowned, Rose studied hard so she got good grades, right? "_I _study, _I_ pay attention in lessons, _I_ do my own work but then when it comes to exams Scor does just as well as me! It's not fair!" Oh, thought Caly, so it was about not being clever enough.

"Rose you _are _clever, you do know that don't you." Rose shook her head, like she was trying to hold onto what she was believing. "Look." said Caly, swiftly crossing the bathroom till she stood in front of Rose and put both hands on her shoulders. "There are different types of clever, and smart, you know that right?" Rose just stared at her the tears starting to stop. Caly took a deep breath and continued. "I'm, like, people-smart. I, generally, know what to say to cheer people up. Then there's the kind of intelligent, clever that Scor is, you know, he gets things like that." she took a hand off Rose's shoulder to click her finger. "And to be honest Rosie, you're that kind of clever, too. You just also have a load more." Caly released Rose's shoulder's to gesticulate. "Common sense, I guess, you work harder, you know that hard work is going to get you far in life, that's intelligent." Rose blinked at her.

"You think that?"

"Yeah, I mean we all know we should work but none of us actually pay heed to it because it's not what we want. You've just got a load more self-discipline, besides all you've got to go on are the exams and if you cram revise, anyone can do well. It's not the best indicator of intelligence. Let's face it Rose, you're one of the smartest people in the year, why do you think you and Scor argue all the time? It's because you're both very intelligent but you see things differently." Rose breathed deeply and then hastily scrubbed her face to wipe away the stray tears.

"I guess I'm being _not_ very intelligent by getting worked up about this." Caly tilted her head to the side.

"I wouldn't say that, we're all human Rosie. We all have our faults." Rose smiled at her.

"You know however conceited you sounded you were right, you are people smart." Caly rolled her eyes.

"Well obviously, I'm not famed for my modesty." Rose laughed and crossed to the sink. Turning on one of the taps she ran her hands under the water for a couple of seconds and then wiped them across her face."Out of interest." said Caly, as she leaned against the neighbouring sink. "What brought that on?"

"Erm." replied Rose, drying her face and hands on the towel. "I guess it was you lot messing around and not paying attention in Charms and knowing that Scor would do better than me in it, even though I worked in lessons." Caly nodded.

"Rose, you can't help it if he's naturally more talented than you. I mean, Scor works hard for Liann but he never does better than you, does he?" Rose considered it.

"I never thought of that." Caly just about refrained from rolling her eyes.

"C'mon let's grab lunch and you better talk to the boys, you left them rather confused." Rose sighed.

"Great, wonderful, just what I wanted." Caly froze. The wheels in her mind turning.

_Wonderful_

"Caly?" asked Rose, waving a hand in front of her friends vacant face.

_What's in a name? Wonderful I am but wonderful am I? _

_Wonderful. Magic. Wizards and Witches…_

_Wonderful Wizard of Oz!_

Caly broke from her trance when she reached the conclusion. Her eyes went wide and she grabbed Rose. "I did it!" she exclaimed.

"What?" asked Rose, completely confused.

"The riddle! Rose you're a genius!"

"What?" she asked still completely confused.

"Come on we have to get the boys!" she grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her off towards the Great Hall, bemused Rose ran after her.

* * *

><p>Scor and Al were sitting in the Great Hall talking about Quidditch. Both of them had suddenly realised that they rarely spent any time with out the girls. The time when they'd all been rowing hardly seemed to count because their conversations had mainly been one sided and far from normal. Again times in the dormitory couldn't be counted as there were often other people there and there conversations tended to revolve around Scor hogging the bathroom and Al being too messy. No the two of them meant they rarely spent any time together alone. Scor found himself constantly rolling his eyes at what Al said and laughing at his remarks, that were rather, unintentionally, stupid. Al found himself behaving rather childishly because he wasn't able to come back with witty or intelligent retorts to Scor's sarcastic remarks. That was why, when Caly came charging into the Great Hall dragging Rose behind her, Al was lobbing peas at Scor's head.<p>

"Al! Scor!" she called out skidding to halt between the two boys. "The clue I know what the clue is!" both of them stared at her for a second and weren't really allowed anytime to register what she said because she had grabbed Al's hand, who was nearest to her, and began to pull him out of the hall. Al just had time to grab Scor's and the three of them compliantly let themselves be towed along by Caly.

"So." said Scor when they were deposited by a table in the library, Caly had gone to find Madame Pince. "Are you alright now?" Rose, who had been casually examining the names on spines of the books, turned to him.

"Yeah." she replied. Al looked up, replacing his glasses on his nose from where he'd been cleaning them on his robes.

"You sure?" he asked. "You seemed really upset earlier." Rose nodded.

"I-I just had a little… moment." Scor seemed to know what she meant but Al continued to look confused.

"Moment?" Rose sighed sweeping her hair from her face.

"I just, I just had a moment of self doubt, that's all." Al seemed to understand a bit better.

"Oh so is that why you were shouting at Scor?" Rose blinked, not expecting him to understand.

"Wait, what?" asked Scor, who was starting to feel a bit confused.

"I just felt completely useless, that's all, because you weren't paying attention in Charms but I know you're going to do better than me in the exams in it." Scor nodded.

"But you don't feel like that anymore?" he questioned, he remembered his own feelings like that so he knew how unpleasant it was.

"No, Caly set me straight."

"I set what straight?" asked Caly as she returned with a book in her arms.

"Never mind." said Rose. "What book have you got?" asked Al. She dumped it down on the table, making them all jump, they stared at it with expressions of dawning comprehension. The title of the book read _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz._

"Well." said Caly after they continued to stare at it. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"That is…" said Rose.

"Unexpected." suggested Al.

"Definitely." said Scor. "I wasn't expecting it to be quite so… obvious." there was a long pause, then Rose said

"So what's the plot?" Caly opened her mouth, closed it and then launched into an explanation.

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight." said Al, after spending half an hour listening to Caly explain the book to them. "It's about a girl-"<p>

"Dorothy." he rolled his eyes.

"It's about a girl called Dorothy who gets stuck in a hurricane. Her house gets sucked up and when she lands, she lands on the wicked witch of the east who ruled 'Munchkin land' in Oz." Caly nodded. "Then the good witch of the north came and told her to follow the yellow brick road to see the wizard of Oz because he'd be able to send her home."

"Yeah."

"On the way she met a lion, a tinman and scarecrow who could all talk and they all decided to go to the wizard so they could get what they wanted. When they get to the wizard he tells them that they need to go kill the Wicked Witch of the West to get what they want. Dorothy gets kidnapped by said witch. Eventually she gets very angry when the witch steals one of her shoes, which she took of the dead Witch of the East, that she threw a bucket of water over her head, melting her. Then they go back to the 'City of Emeralds' and her dog discovers that the Wizard isn't a wizard at all but someone who got blown there by his balloon. The Wizard gives the scarecrow, tinman and lion these phoney gifts that are what they wanted and says he'll have to take Dorothy back by himself. However the balloon flies off without her so the four of them, and the dog, go to the Good Witch of the South and she tells her that if she taps her heels three times and wishes to go home she'll get there. She does it and her and the dog wake up back where she started." Caly thought over everything he said for a moment.

"Yep." she said nodding her head. "Pretty much." the others looked at her like she was mad. "It's a fantasy novel." she said. "It's not meant to be realistic, unless you read the entire thing as a dream, and then it's one hell of a dream." they all blinked at her for a second longer before Scor asked.

"So who's it by?"

"L. Frank Baum." she said, swivelling the cover so he could read it. Again, all their mouths dropped open. "What?" she asked, really confused as to what was so mind-boggling about this story.

"Do you mean _the_ L. Frank Baum, as in Lyman Frank Baum?" Caly shrugged in response to Rose's question.

"I dunno, maybe."

"When was it written?" asked Scor, a fervent look in his eyes.

"Erm." she flicked through the first pages of the book. "Not sure, I think, maybe around turn of the nineteenth century."

"And he's American?" checked Al.

"Yep." said Caly.

"It's him." said Rose. "Got to be."

"Who?" asked Caly, even more impatient.

"L. Frank Baum was a squib." said Scor slowly. "He came from _the _single most powerful magical family in America from the 1700s to the early-to-mid 1900s. It was the Baum family that first set up a school of magic that was like Hogwarts. Before there were lots of smaller schools dotted about, but if you didn't live near one then you wouldn't get taught magic, it would be down to your family. They fell out of grace, however, when it was discovered that they'd had dealings with Grindlewald."

"Grindle-who?" asked Caly. There was a moment in which her three friends all closed their eyes and then Al, who'd opened his first, took up the narrative.

"Grindlewald was a very powerful wizard. He went to Durmstrang, another wizarding school, and he was friends with Dumbledore." Caly nodded. "Um, he, well, he sort of built up an army, really, and started trying to take over."

"Where?"

"Everywhere." said Rose. "He was really powerful, I think he had the elder wand in his possession and he wasn't defeated until Dumbledore duelled him. He was sent to the prison he'd built, Nuermgaurd." Caly nodded, thinking it over, only one part really striking her.

"He had the elder wand, as in one of the Deathly Hallows?" Rose nodded.

"Yeah, funny that."

"Coincidence?" asked Al. Caly shook her head.

"I don't think it matters, we used that clue to get us here. What did the Baum family do with Grindlewald?"

"Well." said Scor. "I think at the time the muggles were having a war, and Grindlewald was using it as a smokescreen really." Caly frowned, trying to do the dates in her head.

"WWII?" she asked.

"I don't know." said Scor. "But anyway, America was on the opposite side but the Baum family had been exchanging letters with Grindlewald for _years_, 'sharing' magical knowledge. So when he asked them to support him, they obliged. I think they sent him food for his army, 'cause you can't conjure food, and stuff like that. In the end, though, they were tried for treason by the American Ministry of Magic. It didn't effect the school, much, it just dropped from 1st to 2nd, it lost out to Blauvelt." Caly nodded, turning it over, trying to assess what was relevant in that and what wasn't.

"We need to go back to the original riddle." said Rose, finally, after they'd all sat pensively in thought for five minutes. The others nodded.

"So is the stuff about the Baum's irrelevant?" asked Al, slowly rotating his neck to try and alleviate a soreness. "Are we going back to the book?" Both Scor and Rose made non-committal movements but Caly shook her head.

"I think… I think I may have a link." she said. The others frowned at her and leant forwards. "I need to know something first? Why is Baum famous in the Wizarding world, is it just because of his name?" Al shrugged but Rose and Scor shook their heads.

"It's because he's a writer." said Rose. "He wrote some excellent fiction books; _The Re-Awakening of King Arthur, The Spirits Beyond the Veil._"

"The list goes on." completed Scor. Caly nodded a grin beginning to spread across her face.

"See!" she exclaimed, both hands gesturing. "It's about names!" there was a pause and then Al, shaking his head, said

"I don't follow." Scor nodded and Rose just stared blankly at her.

"It's not about names, it's about _names._"

"And the difference is?" asked Scor.

"It's the _names_ we give to people." there were still frowns on Al and Rose's faces but Scor's was almost starting to clear as if he was beginning to guess what she was saying. "Baum was a squib, he's given a label that classifies him as something useless, _but_ he's the most famous that family because he's famous in both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds." Rose's expression was beginning to clear up, too. Al still looked a bit confused.

"But how does that answer the riddle?" Caly held up a hand.

"Just give me a second, I think I'm getting there." there was a pause, another silence then Rose said.

"His family was 'wonderful' weren't they? They were one of the best loved family, until the whole Grindlewald thing." Scor nodded along to what she was saying and Caly listened intently, the pieces fitting.

"Wonderful I am but wonderful am I?" quoted Al. "They seemed wonderful but actually they weren't because they betrayed their country."

"Exactly." said Scor. "Then, I think, the next course in this puzzle is Grindlewald."

"Maybe it's the Hallows." suggested Al. Caly shook her head.

"I don't think so. I doubt they'd be send us round in circles." the other two nodded.

"Yeah, I think, maybe." Scor glanced at Al. "Dumbledore." Rose frowned.

"Dumbledore?" she questioned.

"Well think about it." he said, twisting himself to her. "We followed the downfall of the Baum's to Grindlewald, doesn't it make some semblance of sense to follow the downfall of Grindlewald?" Rose nodded.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So are we on Dumbledore, as he was the downfall of Grindlewald." there was a round of nods from the other three when Al said that.

"What do we do now?" asked Scor, twisting round in his chair he gazed into the library. "He's got to be in _all_ the books of modern history." Rose rolled her eyes.

"We don't need to read books, we should just go to McGonagall's office and talk to his portrait." Caly shook her head.

"You're all forgetting." she raised her wrist, showing the feather and the faint burn. "I can see all of Fawkes' memories who has seen all of Dumbledore's. It won't take long to find out what we want, what do we want to know?" there was a long pause, in which they all exchanged looks.

"Find out about Grindlewald." said Al. "See what happened between them." Caly nodded. She closed her eyes, her right hand reaching across to her left wrist to fiddle with the feather there. As she passed further back into the memories that she had seen from Fawkes, her friends noticed that the marking on wrist began to glow.

* * *

><p>Returning from the memories was like breaking through the surface of a swimming pool. She sat in her chair gasping for a few seconds trying to adjust to the sensation of being there.<p>

"Caly?" asked Al. She noticed that her three friends had moved closer, that they'd crowded rounded her chair. "Are you okay?" She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

"Yeah.. yeah." she nodded.

"Sure?" asked Scor. She nodded again.

"Positive, I'm just not used to that."

"So did you find anything?" asked Rose. Caly nodded.

"Loads, some of it I reckon we can discard 'cause it's pretty… private." the others frowned.

"What?" Caly licked her lips nervously.

"I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I got the impression that it won't be, but Dumbledore was in _love_ with Grindlewald." there was a very long shocked pause in which Caly gathered that that was indeed some sort of secret. Al exchanged wide eyed looks with Rose whilst Scor sat back on his heels, running a hand through his blonde hair.

"I see." he said. "That's… unexpected." he still had a frown on his face and Caly was beginning to wonder whether telling them had been a good idea, now that she thought about it she didn't know of a single gay person in Hogwarts, in such a big school she would expect there to be at least one. Maybe wizards were_ even_ more traditional than muggles.

"Err." she said, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them. "Is it… okay for a wizard to be gay?" there was another pause and then Al broke down into laughter. Rose followed him in a burst of giggles and Scor rolled his eyes, a grin forming across his face.

"No." he said. "It's not." Caly rolled her eyes at him this time, glad to hear the very sarcastic tone of his voice.

"You know it's lucky _I_ can tell when you're being sarcastic." Scor put on a contemplative face.

"Yes, I suppose it is." he shook his head. "Let's set the record straight, being gay is okay." Caly burst out laughing, Al broke down once more and Rose rolled her eyes.

"What?" said Scor. "I thought that was quite good."

"Yeah." said Rose. "In your head."

"Well at least I can-"

"Guys!" called Caly. "Shut up and focus and…" there was a pause and her eyes slid out of focus.

"Caly?" asked Al waving a hand up and down in front of her face. "You alright?"

"We're supposed to be in class." she hissed. The others rolled their eyes.

"I think looking into Dumbledore's memories must be messing with your own." said Scor casually. "We don't have a lesson after Lunch Caly, we have astronomy after dinner." she blinked for a couple of seconds.

"What? Oh yeah.. I..I forgot."

"Clearly." said Scor dryly. "Moving on we should figure out where we're going to go from-"

"Snape." said Caly instantly. "He killed Dumbledore, whether or not on Dumbledore's orders he was his downfall." the others nodded but then Rose said.

"It… it couldn't be." she jerked her head towards Scor ever so slightly. Caly shook her head. "No, he was never going to do it." there was a pause in which Al nodded silently and Scor frowned.

"Who are you talking about?" he asked.

"No one." said Al quickly and Scor frowned even deeper at that.

"So…" he said trying to alleviate the sudden tension. "Should we head to McGonagall's office and have a little chat with Snape." Caly shook her head.

"Oh come on." he said, a little annoyed. "What else have you got."

"I don't disagree that we should talk to his portrait but I think Al should go alone." there was a silence in which everyone recalled the only other conversation they'd had with Professor Severus Snape.

"I guess that makes sense." said Rose, turning to her cousin she said. "You up for it?" Al, who looked a little nervous nodded.

"Sure."

"Brilliant." said Rose clapping her hands together. "I think we got a lot done today and there's no time like the present Al. The three of us may as well head back to the common room."

* * *

><p>Al stood outside the gargoyle to McGonagall's office. He frowned up at it, trying to think what the password could be.<p>

"Oh c'mon." he said to it. "I know it's a head teacher. I _need_ to speak to the portrait of Professor Snape, it's urgent." However, before he'd finished the sentence, the gargoyle had sprung to it's side. He blinked for a second and then realised he'd said the name of a headmaster. He rolled his eyes, of course, they had to get in and most people got impatient and shouted their reasons for coming at the gargoyle, thus opening it.

Running up the stairs he flattened himself to the wall as Ewan Tirrel came charging down. He shot Al a sly, superior look before leaving through the open space at the bottom. With a look at contempt at his departing back Al hurried up and rapped on the door.

"Enter." came the voice of McGonagall. Al pushed open the door. Professor looked up at him and sighed. "You wish to Professor Dumbledore?" she asked. "Or Professor Snape." Al, who had blinked at first at the mention of Dumbledore, said

"Professor Snape, professor." she nodded and got up.

"I'll be through there." she said, gesturing to another door to the left of Al. "Just leave when you are done, and close the door." he nodded. She left the room and he turned his face up to the portraits of his namesakes.

"Hello Professor Snape and Dumbledore." the two awake portraits nodded down at him.

"Hello Mr Potter." said Dumbledore. "It is a pleasure to see you again, and looking so healthy." Al smiled up at the portraits, it was good to speak to the person he'd looked up to all his life again.

"Al, please." he said up to him. "It's nice to see you too, Professor, and you Professor Snape." Professor Snape nodded down at him.

"Good day Mr Potter."

"Al." he corrected. Professor Snape blinked at him.

"Good day, _Al_." he said.

"Now I believe you wanted to talk to me?" Al nodded, however he remained silent.

"Erm, well, I don't really know what I want to ask you." he said, a little embarrassed. "I'm here about the game." he said. Professor Snape nodded but didn't say anything. "So, do you have anything to say?" Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled down at him whilst Snape seemed to gather himself.

"You are aware, I presume, of my feelings for your grandmother?" Professor Snape asked. Al nodded.

"I know the story, yeah, my dad told me." Snape's beady eyes bore down on him, nodded very slightly.

"Lily was a beautiful girl, I saw that right from the moment I met her. Beauty is something that is rare in this world. True beauty is something that is near impossible to find. Your grandmother had true beauty, she saw good in everything, even me. Even when I was not worthy of it. Not worth any of it." Al narrowed his eyes.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said, politely. Snape rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you may."

"Is this what you tell all the people who come looking for the clue." he snorted.

"Some times I think that you are very different from your father, but now I see that you do still hold some of the Potter idiocy." Al, used to the insults from Scor, brushed it aside, more interested in Dumbledore's sigh. "Of course, I do not tell all students this. I tell them that they must find true beauty. However." he said his eyes narrowed. "I may be giving you a hand." Al frowned unsure.

"You've given me a hand?" he said slowly. "How?" Snape gave a long suffering sigh.

"Must I spell it out for you. I told you what defined true beauty in your grandmother." Al frowned, trying to piece it all together.

"So I'm looking for someone who saw good in everything?" he questioned the portrait. Professor Snape gave a tiny nod. "And it's _not _Professor Dumbledore." he said, to clarify the thoughts in his head. Dumbledore shook his head, his blue eyes twinkling.

"No, though I'm flattered that you think I saw good in everything." Al nodded, not really listening. "Well I better go and talk it over with my friends, they'll have ideas. Thanks for all your help." he waved, quite enthusiastically, at the portraits before dashing from the room. There was the fading sound of the door slamming for a moment before Dumbledore turned to Snape.

"Well Severus, what do you think of young Mr Potter?" Snape stayed silent for a long while, staring at the door.

"He has more than Lily's eyes." he said softly. "He exudes none of the arrogance that his grandfather, father nor brother do." Dumbledore sighed at Snape calling Harry arrogant because, in his opinion, the two James' had been, a little, but not Harry."I knew you had it inside of you." said Dumbledore. Snape turned a glare on him.

"Don't say anything more, Albus." he warned. Dumbledore just grinned merrily at him, his blue eyes shining even more. The door through which McGonagall had departed opened again.

"Ah Minerva." said Dumbledore, diverting his attention away from the brooding Snape. "Have you discovered the wonders of knitting patterns yet?" Snape vaguely heard McGonagall's exasperated, negative response, his mind, however, was mainly focused on the young Potter and Lily.

* * *

><p>"So we have to find someone that sees goodness in everyone that <em>isn't<em> Great Aunt Lily or Dumbledore." Rose was sitting on a sofa, her elbow resting on knee, her hand cupping her face. Al nodded.

"Yeah." Scor checked his watch from where he was lounged next Rose, his arms thrown over the back. "10 minutes till dinner." he said. "Sorry Caly!" he added when, putting his arm over the back, he whacked her in the head. She waved it away, listening to what Al was beginning to say.

"Thank god I'm starved." there were eye rolls from both girls.

"Really Al?" asked Caly. "Can't you keep your mind off your stomach and on the task at hand?" Al shook his head and Rose supplied.

"He's like my dad, mind ruled by his stomach." "Wonderful." exclaimed Caly throwing both hands up. There was a moments silence and then her three friends burst out laughing. She rolled her eyes.

"What? If I'd said Deathly Hallows would it have been funny?" Rose shook her head.

"No, it's just that that's how you figured out the clue so it's kind of funny when you do it." Caly blinked at her.

"I'm really not getting this joke." she said.

"You don't have to." pointed out Scor. "We're laughing _at_ you and it's never a good thing if you're laughing at yourself."

"Except if you're Al." said Rose and her and Scor went back into hysterics. Caly's lips twitched and Al pouted.

"One day I will do something immensely clever and you will all thank me."

"Err Al, hate to burst you bubble but that days been and gone." pointed out Caly. Al huffed.

"Well, I'll do something else." he looked incredibly petulant and they all burst out laughing. Scor even leant down and ruffled his hair

"OI!" Al exclaimed. "What have I told you about messing with the Potter hair?" Scor rolled his eyes and grinned cockily at him. "Besides I'm not a dog."

"Really?" said Scor. "You had me fooled." Al grabbed the cushion Caly was leaning on whacked Scor. Scor grabbed the one next to him and attacked him back. A giant cushion fight erupted before Caly and Rose, Caly grinned watching them whilst Rose rolled her eyes and tapped her finger against the side of the couch, clearly impatient about their chance to solve the puzzle being held up.

Caly used the Astronomy lesson to think. She was pretty sure that there was no person in history that saw good in _everyone_. Their Great Aunt Lily couldn't have seen good in someone like Riddle, just like she pretty sure no one could see good in Hitler. She was also very sure she wasn't going to be very much use on this. She didn't know of famous witches and wizards and all muggles would have to be _very _famous or, like Baum, have a connection to the magical world. She couldn't think who it was, however as she gazed up at the partially cloudy night sky and saw the moon shining extra bright, she began to think that there was something they were missing.


	12. Rose's Turn

Rose's Turn

"Look at this!" exclaimed Rose. It was three weeks since Al had talked to Professor Snape, they weren't much further down that line of inquiry, especially with the Quidditch season back in full swing as of last weekend. Ravenclaw had beaten Slytherin by the slight margin of 10 points, meaning Slytherin had lost _all _their games and were finishing rock bottom. Ravenclaw were going to finish in third place because they had won a game but lost two. It was up to Hufflepuff and Gryffindor to battle it out in two weeks time and then in, what would be a rematch, the final. There was a lot of rumours flying round the school about how the Hufflepuff's cheating but everyone knew it was false. If there was anyone less likely to cheat it would be the 'Puffs. Gryffindor were in with a decent chance of winning but they had to be on top form.

Caly looked up from her carefully buttered sausage sandwich to stare curiously at Rose. Al, who had egg in his hair from another food fight that had erupted between him and Scor, spared her half a glance whilst Scor was busy attempting to summon the bits of food off him, summoning was a fourth year spell that was _very_ difficult so it was a testimony to his ability at Charms that he was able to do it.

"What?" he asked, examining a piece of egg that seemed to blend in with his hair. Rose, who had thrown down _The Prophet_, pointed to the head line article.

"Look at what it says!" she hissed in a whisper.

"Can't read upside down." said Scor lazily. Caly, too was having difficulties reading what it said, and Al still wasn't paying attention. "Read it out." she shot him a withering look before rustling the paper and beginning to read aloud.

" 'On the early hours of Tuesday morning Ministry aurors conducted a top secret raid on a house in Scotland. The house in question was thought to, by the neighbours, be resident of an elderly, reclusive man but it can now be revealed that the man who lives in there is in fact _Wilfred Hardingly_, father of the murderous Siamese twins that last year killed two people in their quest for an unknown object'…" she trailed off looking at her friends and cousin, whose attention she now had fully.

"Go on." hissed Al, after a pause. Rose, who had been examining Scor with concern, blinked and then looked back down at the paper to continue reading.

" 'Mr Hardingly, 85, was said to be highly confused and even insane. This reporter can reveal that he claimed to, not only have no sons but denied that he existed at all. Questions are being raised about whether or not a poorly performed memory charm was used on him. Everret, who also died, it appears was not raised by his father but by his mother. This has been pieced together from the old photographs in the house and healer records in St Mungos. As to how Head Auror Potter and Deputy Head Auror Weasley are able to tell the two apart, neither would comment fully, simply stating "Gerard is alive, we can be 100% sure of that. We know that he looks 'happy' most of the time. We won't tell you how we know that." Most suspect, however, that they were informed this by one of their children. James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter and Rose Weasley were all down in the dungeon trying to fight the two brothers, bringing to light that they really are their parent's children. Also present there was Scorpius Malfoy, known to be best friend to Albus Potter and Rose Weasley. His assistance in helping kill a dark wizard, his friendship with the Potters and Weasley's and the fact that his'… 'that his mother was killed'-" there was a brief moments silence before Rose moved swiftly on. " 'Has helped to turn opinions on young Mr Malfoy on their head. Also present was a muggle born friend of theirs Catalina Hautly.' See!" Rose barely breathed after she finished the article, choosing instead to continued her rant. "They've got this all wrong! Why does Caly get only a _mention_?"

"Because you're not thinking." hissed Scor, his teeth gritted. "Your dads obviously didn't want it revealed to the press what Hardingly was after. They've no idea how important Caly is to all of this. That's why they've turned it into some sort of _stupid_ article about you." Rose glared at him, whether because of the insult or because she was still frustrated with the article, it was hard to tell.

"I don't think that's very important." said Caly. "I think it's more important that the aurors have raided their father's home now." Al nodded.

"Do you think he's on the move?" she shrugged.

"Where was this place?" Rose scanned the article.

"Ancrum." she said. "That's not that far away, I think." Scor was twisting his hands together.

"Do you think he's coming back?"

"Yes." said Caly instantly.

"Why?" asked Al. "There's nothing he can do with your wand. What does he want now?" Caly opened her mouth to answer but Scor, with his mouth in a hard line, beat her to it.

"Revenge."

* * *

><p>They were glad of their light lesson load that day; free, History of Magic and Herbology, though Herbology for Al ended with him covered in pus after he stroked a plant in the wrong place. Mutters followed them everywhere they went but none of them had the heart to listen in and hear what other people were saying about them. They passed James once in the hallway and he looked unnaturally concerned, catching their eyes he grimaced once.<p>

"What do you think?" James had detached himself from a large crowd of third and first years and made his way over to them.

"Revenge." was the grunted answer he got from Al. James nodded.

"I thought it might be something like that." they were all silent, then James said. "But he can't get into the castle, everyone knows what he looks like, he can't get in." Caly shrugged.

"Uncle Harry never found out how Winters got in." James' nostrils flared slightly but Caly couldn't be bothered to figure out why.

"True, I guess, I'll keep an eye on the map." they all nodded. "Scor are you-how are you coping?" James changed tack in the middle of the sentence, to phrase a different question to the silent boy.

"I'm sad and worried but I'm making myself feel better by picturing all the horrible ways I could kill Hardingly." there was a moments silence then Caly grabbed his arm.

"Up." she ordered. "Get up." Scor looked at her, confused.

"What?"

"Come on." she said, pulling him to his feet. "I'm taking you for a walk, the fresh air will do you good." the three relatives watched, puzzled, as Caly forced Scor out of the portrait hole. James turned back to the other two.

"Why do I get the feeling they're still keeping secrets?" Al flicked a piece of paper half-heartedly at his head and Rose busied herself with her books. After waiting for a second James got up and left, thoroughly perturbed and genuinely quite concerned.

* * *

><p>Caly lead Scor all the way out to the empty courtyard. There she deposited him on the bench and paced furiously up and down in front of him. After a couple of moments of tense silence she stopped in front of him. Looking right down into his grey eyes, that had lost the sparkle that made him Scor, she said<p>

"You're not killing anyone." Scor threw her a mocking look.

"He murdered my mother, he deserves it." Caly looked away for a second before looking back at him.

"And you think that makes it okay?" she asked. Scor's nostrils twitched.

"Yes." she shook her head.

"Scor you can't kill him, you can't!"

"Why not?" he exclaimed angrily getting up from the bench and beginning to pace furiously too. "Why can't I make him suffer they way that I do? Why can't I take from him the one thing he's got left?" Caly looked at him worry and pity rife in her eyes.

"Because you won't survive." he whirled round on the spot.

"_What?_" he spat.

"Look how guilty you are about what happened to her, that wasn't directly you fault. Yes you could have stepped in but you didn't _actually kill_ her. This, though, this you'll point your wand to another man and take his life. You'll watch if drain from his eyes and you will_ never forget it_! It will haunt you till your dying day, that and knowing you were responsible!" Scor snarled at her, furious for the example she was using.

"I don't care!" he yelled. "I don't care if I never sleep again! I just want justice!"

"Then get him arrested, hand him over to Uncle Harry, he'll _rot_ slowly in a prison cell with nothing but his insanity for company! Isn't that a worse way to go? Not quickly, not so quick you won't feel it, but slowly so that you feel the life leave you? If you want him to suffer, for gods sake send him to jail!" Scor stared at her, indecision clouding his eyes, he was clearly heavily swayed by her arguments. "That and I don't want to loose you." he looked up at her and she had tears forming in her eyes. "I don't want you to have your soul ripped in half. You're a good person Scor, if you kill him you'll regret it and I don't want to loose the person that started things getting better." Scor blinked at her. "Please?" Scor shook his head.

"I can't promise anything." he said, his voice thick, his eyes brimming with tears.

"I know." she said. "I know." Collapsing back onto the bench Scor put his head in his hands and Caly wrapped her arms around him and let him cry. Let him cry over his mother and his dilemma and all his other worries.

* * *

><p>The rest of the week was a tense affair for the four friends. Scor's desire for revenge had, it was clear, not been distinguished in his talk with Caly, rather diminished. Caly noticed that Freddie seemed to be hovering around them. He often sat on the adjacent sofa to them in the common room and by them in the Great Hall. It was plain that the adults of the family had asked him to keep an eye on them. James, too, was hovering over them in an unsure manner that was most unlike him. The whispers had mainly died down as the rest of the school didn't think that the matter really concerned them.<p>

Saturday Caly was playing an absent minded game of chess with James. Ever since she'd bought him the book his game had been raised and now, because she wasn't paying proper attention and because he'd improved, he was currently beating her.

"How did you get so good?" she asked, as her other bishop was beaten of it's square by his queen. James grinned wickedly at her.

"That book you bought me." he said. "It's genius." Caly rolled her eyes.

"It was for _beginners_."

"Exactly." replied James. "I've realised that the way to beat you is via your arrogance." Caly gave a cough of disbelief.

"What do you mean my 'arrogance'?" James smiled cheekily.

"Well you play complicatedly and I used to think that the way to beat you was to be even more complex, which was basically impossible, but now I've simplified my game and you don't know how to beat me." Caly bit her tongue moving her knight.

"Wow. That's quite deep." she said eventually.

"Why thank you." he replied taking her rook that stood at the corner of the board with his knight. She gritted her teeth and sat forward. She wasn't going to loose.

"Checkmate." James sunk his head into his hands, ruffling the back of his hair.

"Damnation!" he exclaimed. "I was so close! So close!" Caly grinned, glad to have beaten him once more.

"I could have won that." she said, teasingly. James threw her a dirty look and then changed subject.

"You up for Sluggy next week?" Caly frowned up at him. "Next week? Isnt't that-no that's the week after, sure." he grinned at her as he swept his chess pieces of the board and walked off. Caly packed up her set and deposited it into the dormitory.

* * *

><p>Rose trooped back into Gryffindor common room all alone. Al had had to escort Scor up to the hospital wing after he'd been hit by a bludger <em>after<em> practise had ended. Her and Fred had been collecting them but the one she was after was playing hard to get. She'd been chasing it, club raised, preparing to smack it into Fred's open arms when it suddenly nose dived downwards. Scor, who had been showing Roxie his sloth-grip roll, was the only person still on their broom apart from them. He'd only been alerted to it's presence by the screams but by that time it was inches away. He'd managed to throw himself sideways so that it only collided with his foot but it had still damaged it. Rose had apologised profusely and Al had hauled his arm around his shoulders to help him hobble to the hospital wing.

Entering via the portrait hole she saw Caly staring into space. It seemed to be a thing of hers, loosing herself in private thoughts that absorbed her completely. Rose, unlike Al, was not cool with her and Scor keeping secrets from them. Al was being very quiet about it and she knew that if he felt any hurt feeling he'd slowly dissect until he didn't think it was worth having anymore. Rose, on the other hand, had learnt long ago to be vocal about your unhappiness', that was the only way you got them solved. However, there was a part of her that agreed with Al that it must be very private and it was clear that Caly wouldn't tell. She'd tried to get Scor to talk ages ago by asking him out on that walk and casually asking him about his childhood when the moment presented itself, but it hadn't worked and instead he'd told her some very funny anecdotes about himself.

Caly looked up, shaken from her thoughts by the raucous laughter of Freddie and co, and noticed Rose staring at her. Cautiously she raised her arm and waved at her, Rose was gazing very intently at her. Rose's face cleared and she smiled. In the end she plopped herself down on the sofa next to Caly.

"Hey."

"Hey, where are the others?" the question was almost instant and Rose recounted the tale about the bludger. Caly rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'typical Quidditch'.

"Caly."

"Yes." replied her friend instantly.

"Um, can I tell you something?" Caly dropped her quill instantly, turning her head to Rose. Her mind was whirring; was Rose about to tell her what had been up with her when they argued? A part of her wasn't that keen on hearing what Rose had to say, the last time someone had said that to her she'd been let in on a secret she'd rather not know. Then again a problem shared was a problem halved and it was certainly helping Scor talking to her.

"Of course." Rose noticed the time that it took for Caly to reply but brushed it off as nothing.

"If I asked you to keep it under wraps, would you?" Caly nodded.

"'Course." Rose nodded along.

"Good. Well actually that would mean only, really, keeping it from Scor cause Al knows." Caly's brow seemed to dip a little and Rose wondered just how close Scor and Caly were. Caly, on the other hand, was trying to guess in advance what was going on. This must have been relatively late childhood because Rose had obviously told Al, and Caly had a feeling that she would hear transcripts for yet more arguments.

"Whenever you're ready." Caly prompted and Rose nodded. She steeled herself and submersed herself in the memories, opening her mouth she began to talk to Caly.

* * *

><p><em>Rose sat up in bed. She had the sheets tucked up to her neck, her father sat on the end of the bed. <em>

"_Where's mummy?" asked Rose. _

"_She's working late Rosie." Ron reached over and smoothed his daughters wild brown hair. _

"_But I can't go to sleep until she's read me a story." Rose said all this in a quavering voice, sounding younger than seven. Ron sighed, privately promising never to let Rose sleep over in the same room as James and Freddie. From what he'd heard the then 7 and 11 year old, Freddie's depart to Hogwarts had been in two days, had told the assembled group of Rose, Al, Roxie, Dom and Molly horror stories. Al, who had always been a quiet boy, hadn't slept for a week. Harry had needed to stay in the six-year olds room and conjure the solar system across the ceiling and his silver stag patronus, until he dropped off to sleep. However after that week Al had managed to get a hold of his fears, though he'd never slept the same again, that was when his overly vivid dreams and sleep-talking and sometimes walking had started. For Rose, however, the experience seemed to have scarred her for life. Hermione had to read her a story until she fell asleep and nothing else worked, it was pretty bad whenever Hermione went away from work. _

"_Well I can read you a story." said Ron. He reached across to the bedside table and picked up the top book. _

"_No daddy!" said Rose. "You can't read that one!" _

"_Oh." said Ron, glancing down at the cover and seeing 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnet. "Why not?" he asked. _

"_Because we've read that one!" she said, a little laugh escaping from her lips. _

"_Ah right." he said. "Well then, what haven't you read?" Rose gave him an incredulous look. _

"_I've read them all daddy." she said, giggling even more. _

_"Ah I see. Well what can I read?" Rose leant across and pulled one out of the bottom of the pile. _

"_This!" she said, waving the book in front of his face. _

_"Alright." he said, taking it. " 'The Sword in the Stone.'" he read. _

"_It's the muggle perspective on Merlin." she said chirpily. "Please will you read it?" _

"_Of course." Ron couldn't say no to his kids, they were just too cute. Clearing his throat he began to read. Rose, who had stopped him several times to tell him to do voices, was looking quite sleepy when the front door opened and closed. Rose was suddenly wide awake. _

_"Is that mummy?" she asked, excitement pooling into her voice. _

"_Probably." said Ron, knowing that other people who had their front door keys would not be calling via the front door at this time of night. "I'll go check. You stay here and don't you dare read ahead, I want to find out what happens more than you!" Rose giggled and Ron placed a loving kiss on the top of her head. _

_The moment her father had gone, Rose sprang out of bed. She padded silently across the floor excited to see her mummy again. She pushed open her door and walked silently across the landing to the railings. Crouching down she could see her parents. They were standing apart and were talking fast, very fast. Rose couldn't be sure but she thought that they were arguing. She was used to her parents bickering but she had long since learnt to differentiate between the two, she'd even taught Hugo how. She didn't like the idea of them arguing at all. If they argued it meant that they didn't love each other, at least that's what Rose believed. She knew that's why she didn't argue with Hugo. She could squabble with him but arguing meant you weren't prepared to say sorry and you should always say sorry to people, especially if you love them. That's how they forgive you. _

"_Oh I'm glad you had such a nice time!" her thoughts were snapped back onto her parents when she heard her dad speak. Again she knew that that was sarcasm. _

_"Ron keep your voice down!" she could here her mother hissing. Mummy didn't hiss, she spoke properly, enunciating each word properly. "You'll wake the children!" this interested Rose even more; what did her parents want to hide from them? _

"_You think?" was the derisive reply from Ron. "I didn't think you'd missed that much of their lives whilst holed up in your study writing love messages!" Rose felt blood drain from her face. Her mum was writing love notes to people that weren't daddy! Hermione seemed to have forgotten her previous admonishment when she snapped back. _

"_I've told you!" she cried. "They aren't love notes! His wife passed away __**in child birth**__! He's raising a son on his own. His son's Rosie's age and sometimes he finds it hard. He's still grieving for heavens sake!" _

_"That's what he says." was the cold reply. _

"_For Christ sake Ron grow up! Whatever happened, happened over a decade ago! And it was not as serious as you keep making out!" _

"_Yeah bet you did a lot of that." there was a short pause and then a slamming noise. She could just about see her mum slamming her hand on the hall table. _

"_Listen to me." she said and her tone was threatening. "His wife died, he has a serious career which he can't drop out of because then they'll have no income and a seven year old son! Things have gotten rough and he's only got one close friend out there, one who's a proper friend and he teaches at Durmstrang. He barely has any time. He's just leaving his son with Fleur, and Gabrielle because her eight year old daughter's here with her. Harry said he'd bring Al and the others over some time, I don't see why we can't help out an old friend? Bill doesn't have a problem with Fleur helping Viktor!" she heard her dad mutter something like 'no history'. Rose wasn't sure what was going on. She knew who Viktor was. Viktor was Viktor Krum. He'd been the Durmstrang champion in the Triwizard tournament that Uncle Harry had been forced to compete in. He was good friends with her mummy, Aunt Fleur and Uncle Harry. For some reason her dad seemed to have as much distaste for him as he did the Malfoy's. _

_Rose was only partially aware of her parents renewed arguing. A door to her right had creaked open and she saw Hugo, tousled haired, wrapped in a deep blue fluffy dressing gown, he'd donned his furry lion slippers and was clutching a teddy. _

_"Rosie?" Rose beckoned him over and he knelt down next to her, nestling warmly into her side. Rose wrapped an arm around him and hugged him as close as possible. _"_What's happening?" he asked, so quiet that they're parents, still shouting, didn't hear. _

_"I don't know." lied Rose. She wasn't sure what to make of it all and she didn't want to put him under that. _

"_When will they stop?" _

"_I don't know." she said again. Hugo buried his head in her shoulder. _

"_I want them to stop." _

"_I know Hughie." she said. "I know, they'll stop soon. Come on." she quietly stood up and helped him up. She took Hugo back into his room and, after he'd ditched the slipper and dressing gown, got into bed with him. He lay down and curled up into her chest. _

_"Stay?" he questioned and Rose nodded. _

"_Of course." _

* * *

><p>There was a pause after Rose had stopped talking. Caly sat there in silence, thinking it over. She somehow thought that that wasn't the entire story. However she could guess that what Rose had witnessed had been very upsetting. There had been the insinuations of her mother was being unfaithful and just seeing her parents arguing was likely to upset a seven year old.<p>

"Do you want to carry on?" she asked eventually. Rose nodded and then added.

"It just gets worse." she added. Caly shrugged.

"At least I know it ends well." Rose smiled, slightly.

* * *

><p><em>Rose woke up in Hugo's room feeling quite upset. She wanted to confront her parents but she didn't want to blow it out of proportion. She just wanted everything to go back to normal. She just wanted there to be light natured bickering and lot's of laughter and happiness. <em>

_"Rosie?" her mum poked her head round the door. _

_"Mum." she noticed that an unusually cool tone had crept into her tone. _

_"Honey what's wrong?" asked Hermione, creeping closer to the bed. _

"_Nothing." said Rose shortly. Hermione studied her and then the pieces fitted together in her head. _

"_Oh honey." she said. Sitting down on the edge of Hugo's bed she stared at her daughter. "Honey you didn't hear what happened last night, did you?" Rose raised her head slightly. _

"_And if I did?" Hermione tapped her lip thoughtfully. _

"_You know Viktor?" she said and Rose rolled her eyes. _

"_Of course I do." she said. "You talk about him all the time, you work with him and he's your friend." Hermione's mouth twitched and Rose wondered why. _

"_Well, yes, I guess that's an accurate summation of everything." she said. "But when we younger, when I was just a bit older than Vic but a bit younger than Teddy, we were a little more than friends." Rose's heart stopped. Her mum couldn't, her mum would never do that to dad. _

"_What do you mean?" she asked. _

_"Well." her mother mused. "He asked me to the Yule Ball and I was who he had to rescue from the bottom of the lake. He cared about me very much." _

"_And you cared about him too." said Rose cautiously. _

_"Sort of, but not in the way that your father always thinks. Yes, I went to the Yule ball and it wasn't as friends but my feelings for him weren't deep or very meaningful or anything. I've always preferred your dad." Rose nodded, that sort of made sense, she guessed. _

_"Mummy, you aren't lying are you?" Hermione laughed. _

"_No dear, I don't lie to you." Rose smiled and then threw herself at her mum. _

_"I'm glad you're back!" she exclaimed. _

_Hugo stirred a bit from inside his bed. He sat up and blinked blearily at his mother and Rose. _

"_MUMMY!" he exclaimed, launching himself out of the covers he landed onto them. "Mummy I heard you and daddy arguing last night." he said it very softly but his voice was clearly hurt. _

_"Oh honey don't worry about it." Hermione soothed, stroking the mop of red hair that sat on his head._

"_So everything's okay?" he asked. Hermione hesitated, torn between not upsetting her children and lying to them. _

"_Yes, I think it is." she replied. "Now, who's up for a visit to Uncle Bill's and Auntie Fleur's?" _

"_I am! I am!" exclaimed Hugo and Rose nodded enthusiastically. "Well get up, get dressed and we can have breakfast and then head off." Rose sprung off the bed. She was almost at the door when she turned back. _

_"Mummy where's daddy?" Hermione frowned. _

"_Didn't he tell you last night, Uncle Harry's taking a couple of days off so he's got to go into work early as he's in charge." Rose nodded and left to get dressed. _

_When Hermione had flooed them both over to Shell Cottage the house was packed. Rose could see Uncle Harry and Auntie Ginny standing by the garden door talking to a tall man. They looked around when they heard them enter and Harry and Ginny both hurried across to give them all hugs. Fleur came down. _

_"Ah it iz you." she said, kissing her mother on both cheeks. "All ze children are in ze garden." The man that Rose didn't recognise stepped forward and hugged Hermione. _

"_Hello Viktor." she said and Rose looked up at him, curiously. _

_"Are you alvight?" he asked. _

"_Fine." she replied. "You?" Viktor shrugged. _

"_Good days come and go." his accent was heavy and Rose could tell Hugo didn't really understand him and wanted to go see Lily. Viktor looked down and saw them. "Ah, these are the children." he said, crouching down, he extended a hand to Rose. "Viktor Krum, nice to meet you." Rose shook it firmly. _

"_Rose Weasley, pleasure to meet you too." Viktor looked up at Hermione, Harry and Ginny. _

_"She is like you, Hermeown." Rose nearly giggled at his mispronunciation of her mother's name. Hermione shot her a stern look and she straightened her face. "I have a son your age." _

"_I know." replied Rose. "_

_Vould you mind to go play vith him? He has but von friend in Bulgaria that is true." Rose nodded. _

_"Of course." _

_"Vank you, your cousin is there, my son is called Dmitri by the way." Rose nodded and left whilst she heard Viktor introduce himself to Hugo. _

"_Zen 'e said zat 'e never wanted to see us again!" eight-year old Marianne Francois-Delacour sat on the grass with James sitting next to her, Al next to him and next to him was a dark haired, heavy eye-browed, thin, pale boy. They were all listening to the story that Marianne was telling. _

_"'Ello Rosie." said Marianne. The other three looked up at her and smiled at her. _

"_Hello Marianne, cousins and you must be Dmitri." she proffered her hand and Dmitri nervously took her hand. _

"_Happy to meet you." he said. Rose took a seat in between Al and Dmitri. Marianne continued to tell the story of her mother's latest boyfriend taking off. Gabrielle had gotten engaged young at 19 and had Marianne not long after. Her fiancé, Andre Francois, had left not long after Marianne was born, he couldn't cope. Gabrielle had had quite a few boyfriends since then, in fact every time Rose saw her the man changed, but her latest boyfriend had been of two years. That explained why the two of them were over in England, Gabrielle always went to Fleur for comfort. _

"_So Dmitri." she said to the pale boy. "How are you?" Dmitri blinked at Rose. _

_"I am being good." he said, slowly. "I is having a lot of good time in England." Rose smiled at his poor English. _

"_It's 'I am having a good time in England' or possibly, 'I am having a lot of fun in England'." There was a pause, in which James smirked, Marianne frowned and Al rolled his eyes. Dmitri blinked at her. _

"_Thank you, I think. My English is not so good, thank you for helping." Rose smiled. _

"_If you want I can give you some lessons." she suggested. Dmitri nodded enthusiastically. _

"_That is being good." Rose smiled even more. _

_"You have a lot to learn." _

* * *

><p>"Rose." Caly interrupted. "I'm really confused." Rose stopped and frowned at her.<p>

"About what?"

"Well, what is this story about?" she said. Rose blinked.

"It's about an event in my life that has traumatised me." Caly gave her a funny look.

"Right." she replied. "I'm guessing we haven't got to the traumatising part yet, because that row didn't seem so bad."

"Can you just listen?" she asked.

"Sure, I was just confused." Rose cleared her throat and began again.

* * *

><p><em>Rose spent most of the day trying to correct Dmitri's English. She didn't learn an awful lot about him except for the fact he loved Quidditch but was not as good as his father, he had one friend called Igor Poliakoff whose father had been at school with his father. Him and Igor were the same age and thick as thieves but Igor lived in Durmstrang where his father was a teacher. Igor's mother was a Healer and mothered Dmitri a lot. Dmitri didn't know a lot about his mother but said that she had played on the Bulgarian National Quidditch team with his father. His mother was called Marina. Apart from that Dmitri either knew very little or wasn't prepared to talk about it. <em>

_Al then roped him into a game of Quidditch. Dom, who was 9, teamed up with Marianne and Rose against Al, Dmitri and Hugo. Lily couldn't play because she was banned after smashing her mother's old broom in a fit of rage after loosing a game. It was a close fought game but in the end Dmitri, who had claimed to not be very good, scored the winning goal for the boys. _

"_That was so cool!" exclaimed Rose. "I would ask how you got so good but I don't think that's necessary." Dmitri, who seemed to have grasped what she was saying, laughed. _

_"Thank you, I would ask you but I think I know." Rose frowned at him, neither of her parents were famous for Quidditch, her mum couldn't even play. Dmitri sensed her confusion. "Are you not related to Ginny Potter nee Weasley, Holly Head Harpies star?" Rose nodded, her expression clearing. "Apparently she was my mother's favourite chaser, excepting herself." Rose laughed along with him. _

_"Aunt Ginny is my aunt." she said, a little unnecessarily. Dmitri nodded. _

_"That's cool." he replied as the two of them made their way towards Aunt Fleur's house. "I love being over here, Auntie Fleur is my godmother, you know." he said and Rose blinked at him. _

_"Really?" _

"_Yeah, and Uncle Aleksander is my godfather. Though, technically Uncle Bill and Auntie Ana are my godparents too because they're married to Auntie Fleur and Uncle Aleksander." Rose nodded. _

_"So Vic, Dom and Louis are your god sisters and brother." Dmitri nodded._

"_Yes and I know Marianne quite well, also." Rose nodded and smiled and then corrected his English. _

"_Dinner iz served!" called out Fleur. All the children rushed to the table, immediately taking up nearly all of the table. Fleur sat at the head, Viktor on her left and Harry on her right. Then Hermione sat next to Viktor and Ginny, Harry. _

"_So Viktor what is exactly is your work?" asked Ginny._

_"I work for the NQA as the player's voice in the Association." _

"_How does that work?" asked Ginny. "When I was in the game it was almost impossible to get in touch with the NQA if you had a problem. You had to go to the Quidditch officials at your Ministry and then they had to contact the NQA and then it would take ages to get in contact an actual member of the National Quidditch Association." _

"_Vot happens is that people vite directly to us and then ve pass on problems or votever to the Association, if ve can't fix it ourselves." Ginny nodded. _

"_That's good, much better for people who have a problem with the game." Viktor nodded._

"_I is thinking that too." he replied. "Marina often said that it vas unfair on the players." there was an awkward pause after that and Dmitri looked down at his plate, unenthusiastically pushing the vegetables around it. Harry, after a long silence, said_

"_Have you ever thought of, you know, moving on?" Viktor blinked at him, his heavy eyebrows furrowing. _

"_No." he replied shortly. "Marina vas my love. I cannot be viv anyvon but her." Harry nodded and Fleur sympathetically put her hand on his. _

"_I iz not minding looking after Dmitri often. You need my 'elp just ask." he nodded. _

"_I vill be going back tomorrow. I am needed at the office." there were more nods from the adults. _

_"Well, like Fleur said, we're more than happy to have him." said Hermione. "It must be awful to do it on your own with a demanding job, I know I wouldn't've managed without Ron." Viktor nodded gravely. _

"_It vas hard but I think it has made us closer. How is Von?" he asked. Hermione smiled, surprised. _

"_Good, working hard because Harry decided to take time off." she shot Harry a mock-glare._

"_Hey!" said Harry holding his hands up defensively. "I don't want to miss my kids growing up, Ron can have the next week off if he wants." _

"_I'm just joking." replied Hermione with a laugh. _

"_Oh, you're really good at lying." he replied. _

"_Trying to save face in front of the kids." said Ginny, nudging him in the side. Harry scowled at the rest of the adults as they laughed at him._

_Rose was quite sad to go home because she'd had so much fun at Auntie Fleur's. Hermione, because Ron was working a lot, asked if she could drop Rose and Hugo round and Fleur was more than happy to oblige, everyone knew that she missed Vic a lot. Rose had become very good friends with Dmitri and so had Al. In fact when she left she could hear the two of them, and James, arguing about the country most likely to win the Quidditch World Cup. _

"_Mummy." said Rose. _

"_Yes darling?" Hermione had tucked the sheets up around her daughter, just as Rose needed them. _

"_Why was daddy angry with you yesterday?" Hermione paused, thinking over her answer whilst smoothing the sheets on the bed. _

"_Well, I guess because I didn't come home on time." she said. "I didn't come back to read to you, I knew I had to but instead I chose to go out for a drink with Viktor." Rose felt very hurt at that. Her mummy would rather be out with her __**friend**__ then with her. "Honey, it wasn't like that." said Hermione almost instantly. "It was just that I hadn't seen Viktor in years and he's still suffering from the loss of his wife. He's in a lot of pain and I'm just trying to help heal him. He has to keep all the hurt he's feeling inside of him, because he doesn't want Dmitri to see how much he's hurting. He puts on such a strong persona for his son but inside he's crumbling." Rose frowned up at her mum, the way her eyes had gone focused meant that she wasn't really thinking about her anymore, instead she was thinking of Viktor. Something inside of Rose flared up at that. Her mum was sitting in her room, talking to her but instead she was thinking of some other guy. _

_"I think you can go mum." said Rose, a little sharply. _

"_What? But I haven't read you a story." _

"_I need to get over my fear sometime." said Rose, in a voice that made her sound older than seven. Hermione scrutinised her daughter before planting a kiss on her forehead and getting up to leave, turning the light off with her wand. _

_Rose lay awake for most of that night thinking. Her mum had told her that she'd been with Viktor and she'd zoned out completely when she'd been talking about him, did that mean she was still in love with him? Rose shook her head, it couldn't be. Her mummy loved her daddy, she knew that. Yet you could love more than one person. Aunt Gabrielle seemed to be falling in love all the time, and Teddy had had at least four different girlfriends in the past year and a bit. Worry crept into her chest and she breathed deeply, trying to keep calm. Her mummy wasn't going to leave, she couldn't. _

_The next day, when Rose and Hugo went back to Auntie Fleur's house, she was much more wary of Dmitri then she had been before. She cold-shouldered him throughout the day and refused to speak more than one or two sentences at a time. She didn't notice how he slowly began to talk less and less throughout the day, in the end only conversing with Marianne. She did, however, notice that his eyes had slowly filled with tears by the time she'd tried to leave without saying goodbye, but her guilt was outweighed by the panic she felt when her mother knelt down and gave him a big hug, stroking his hair in the way she always stroked hers. _

"_Daddy." she said as he sat next to her on the sofa. Her father grunted once, his nose buried in a paper. "Daddy!" he looked up. _

"_Yes Rosie?" he asked. _

"_I need to talk to you about something." he took the papers from under his nose and held them loosely in his hands, giving her his full attention. _

"_What is it? Do you want another book?" _

"_No!" she said, rather annoyed. "Listen to me!" _

"_Sorry sweetheart." he said in apology, throwing down the file onto the coffee table, turning to face her. "What do you want?" _

"_I'm worried about mummy." Ron stared at his daughter, confused but also afraid. _

"_What are you worried about?" _

"_I think there's something going on with mummy and Viktor." The coffee table flipped as he jumped to his feet. _

_"WHAT?" _

_Rose shrunk backwards into the sofa, suddenly afraid by the amount of anger in her father's voice. Fear of the anger suddenly blazing in his eyes coursed through her. The stomping of his feet as he thundered through the house towards the stairs grew a little quieter but the pounding of her heart remained as loud and as frantic. After a few seconds, sunk frozen into the sofa cushions, she leapt to her feet to follow him. _

"_And then Uncle Harry and I ran back towards the Hospital Wing so that we wouldn't get locked, and so that time didn't get messed up. We nearly ran into Peeves and-" her story, which she had been telling to a wide eyed Hugo who much preferred his parents Hogwarts stories than book stories, stopped when she heard the heavy, storming footsteps coming up the stairs. "One second." she said. Smoothing Hugo's hair once she got up to leave the room. _

"_Ron?" she asked, as he came marching along the hall. "Ron what are you doing?" _

"_How could you?" he yelled. He had marched right up to her and grabbed her wrist roughly. _

"_Ron!" cried Hermione. "Let go of me!" _

"_Do you see this?" he was twisting her hand towards her face, brandishing the two rings in front of her face. _

"_What?" she asked. "What am I looking at?" _

"_Those!" he exclaimed. _

_"I don't know what I'm looking at!" she said, starting to feel the sting of his tight grip. _

"_Your rings!" he snarled. She focused her eyes on them. _

"_Yes." she said, confused. "What about them?" _

"_Remember why you're wearing them?" _

"_Yes! How could I forget?" she asked, incredibly shocked. _

"_Apparently very easily!" Hermione had twisted her wrist and snatched it back, rubbing where he'd been holding it. _

"_What are you talking about?" _

"_You and Viktor!" Hermione let out a very loud groan. _

"_What is your problem?" she cried. "How many times have I told you that I love you! How many times have I told you that __**nothing happened**__ between Viktor and I! How many times have I told you that I am just __**trying **__to be a __**good friend**__, like Fleur and Harry!" _

_"Well that's not what I've heard." he said snidely. _

"_Okay, okay." said Hermione, trying to calm herself down, aware that Hugo was still awake and Rose was somewhere downstairs. "Just tell me where you're getting this information from." Ron froze, he didn't want Hermione to get cross with Rose. _

"_I'm not telling you." Hermione threw up her hands. _

_"Fine!" she exclaimed. "Fine, you don't trust me and that's fine!" Ron frowned, realising that this conversation was getting turned on it's head. "Do you know why that's fine?" Ron's eyes went wide, and began to shake his head. "Because we don't have to stay in the same house! You are going out!" Ron took a step back in shock. _

_"What?" _

"_You heard me __**out**__!" she screamed, pointing to the stairs. _

"_But-but." _

"_You don't __**trust**__ me, you don't __**want **__to trust me and that makes me think that you __**don't**__ care about me, or us or what we have! So if you think that, you might as well __**get out**__!" Ron took another step backwards. _

"_I-I." he couldn't articulate and through the silence they could hear the sobs of Hugo, whirling around on her right foot she headed into Hugo's room. Ron took another couple of steps back in shock. Slowly he head to his and Hermione's room, in a sluggish fashion he packed a bag. Stepping towards the fireplace in there room he grabbed a handful of floo powder. With one last glance at the picture of his family that waved and smiled at him from his bedside table he dropped the powder into the grate and called _

_"Number 12 Grimuld Place." _

_Rose slid down the wall next to the stairs. The tears that fell down her face were completely silent. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She had thought her parents might talk out something like this, maybe squabble a little bit but figure it out in the end, they always did. Now her mum had thrown her dad and it was all her fault. She drew her knees up to her chest and bowed her head onto them, letting the tears fall and soak through her leggings. _

_The next couple of days were possibly the worst of Rose's short life. Her mum stayed at home, mainly in her room, and she didn't see dad at all. Uncle Harry came round in the evening and Auntie Ginny spent all her time there, bringing with her James, Al and Lily. At first none of them had known what was going on but Hugo soon told Lily who spilt the beans to James and Al. Both Lily and James were content with the story they'd been told but Al wasn't. He came to Rose and asked her what had happened. To start with Rose tried to stick to the story Hugo had told but the overwhelming, pent up emotions soon got the better of her. Al sat on her bedroom floor and patted her back as she told him everything. _

"_Rosie." he said eventually. "You have to explain to your mum." _

"_What?" she yelped. "I can't do that." she said, shaking her head frantically. "She'll be so angry."_

"_Rose if you don't I don't think you're parents will get together." Rose shook her head, leaping to her feet. _

"_You're wrong!" she exclaimed loudly. "You're wrong! They have to get back together! They have to." when she finished she sounded desperate, pleading. Al looked up, his green eyes sympathetic. _

_"Rose, I know you're good at reading people, generally, but this isn't like last time, I think you're wrong." _

"_I know." she cried, tears pouring down her face. "I know I'm wrong, and I know they only fell out because dad trusted me because of when I spotted that assassin." Al nodded, remembering the time they'd been in Diagon Alley together and Rose had spotted a man acting oddly, she pointed it out to her dad, saying she knew he was up to no good and her dad and his dad went over and quietly took him aside. Some sort of fight erupted but, of course, their parents won and they took him back to the Ministry and discovered he'd been there to kill them. Everyone had started taking her opinions on people very strongly after that. All Rose had actually done was notice that he hadn't move and every time her father or any of the other adults looked in the other direction his hand twitched towards his pocket where Rose was sure he was keeping his wand. This had made Rose suspicious, especially as he kept staring at them and someone had made an attempt on Uncle Harry's life not two weeks ago. _

"_Please Rosie." begged Al. "You haven't seen your dad, he's so cut up about this. He barely moves off the sofa and there's nothing we can do to make him move or laugh or anything." Rose sank back onto the floor resting her head on Al's shoulder. _

_"Okay, okay I'll try. I'll do it."_

"_Mum." she'd entered her parents room. Her mother was sitting on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, slowly flicking the lights on and off with the deluminator. _

"_Yes dear." she said in a monotone, her voice devoid of emotion. _

"_Mum I have something that I need to tell you." her mother laid down the deluminator and beckoned for Rose to join her on the bed but guilt kept her rooted to the spot next to the door. _

"_Rosie dear, what's wrong?" Hermione sat up, looking concernedly over at her daughter. _

_"It was me." Rose blurted out suddenly. Hermione frowned at her. _

"_It was you, what?" she asked. _

"_It was me that told dad that you were with Viktor." Hermione's eyes went wide, she stared in shock at her daughter, trying to work out what had given her that idea. Slowly, slowly the pieces fell into place. _

"_Rosie dear." her mum said quite calmly. "Can you please go to your and play with Al. I have to go somewhere." Rose left the room, her head hung low, sure her mother was far angrier than she had seemed. _

_"Rose?" asked Al. He was sitting on his knees, reading the spines of her books. Rose didn't answer, instead she threw herself down onto her bed, grabbing her pillow, she buried her head in it and sobbed and sobbed. Al, his face creasing up with worry, crawled across to her side and rubbed her back and talked complete nonsense. _

_Rose heard the door close downstairs, the volume somewhere between a slam and a I-can't-be-bothered-to-close-the-door-so-I'll-let-it-shut-itself. Then there was the sound of footsteps and…two voices. Her head came out of the pillow like a shot. She stared wide eyed at Al who had been absentmindedly doodling on a piece of paper whilst he patted her back. Al's whole face, especially his eyes, lit up. _

"_I think it's them." he said and Rose pushed herself up into a kneeling position, excitement filling her up. There was a knock on the door. _

_"Come in." called Rose. The door opened and Auntie Ginny stood there. _

_"Al, dear, it's time to go." _

_"Oh but can't I-"_

_"No." his mother cut across his pleading. "We're flooing through their upstairs fireplace. Quickly." Al got to his feet. _

_"See ya, Rose." he said and left the room. _

"_Rosie, I think that your parents might want you downstairs." Rose nodded and straightened her dress nervously. _

_She could hear excited chatter from the sitting room as she stood at the top of the stairs. Hugo was obviously excited to have both his parents back and that they weren't fighting and that they were all happy. She couldn't go down and interrupt their happiness because she was sure to be shouted, but at the same time she wanted everything that they had. She wanted to laugh and be held tight and to forget how close their family had come to being torn apart. _

_Slowly, after a long while of deliberation, she began to make her way down the staircase, her hand trailing along the barrier, not gripping it firmly as she normally did. She reached the hallway and crept across to the open door of the sitting room. Her family was all lain out on the big sofa. Dad was flopped over the back and mum had her feet stretched out onto his lap. Hugo sat on his mum's legs. They were all laughing and joking and Rose wanted to lean against the doorframe forever but Hugo spotted her and cried out_

"_Come join us Rosie." both her parents looked round and smiled at her. Cautiously she crossed the room and clambered onto the sofa, into the gap between her mum and dad. She sat there for about a second before her mum pulled her down, one arm wrapped around her, to lie next to her. She snuggled against her mum's chest and closed her eyes, breathing out heavily, feeling more than comforted. _

* * *

><p>"Rose." said Caly, breaking the silence that had descended. "I'm-"<p>

"Don't, I haven't finished." Caly frowned once, she had thought the story was over, but closed her mouth and waited. Rose seemed to compose herself before beginning to speak once more.

* * *

><p><em>Rose had tucked herself up in bed, pulling the blankets around her chin like her parents use to. She felt quite proud of how she had managed to put herself to sleep by reading by herself. She had just reached for her book when there was a knock on the door. Then it slowly began to push itself open, her mum's head appeared in the gap between it and the frame. <em>

"_Rose."_

_"Yes mum." _

_"I want to talk to you, can I do it now?" Rose swallowed, realising this was when she was going to get told off. However she nodded and said_

"_Yes." Her mum crossed the room and took a seat at the end of her bed. She looked around once and noted the book in her hand. _

"_I'm very proud of you Rosie." she said, Rose's eyebrows shot up. "You've conquered your fear. That's very brave of you." Rose's eyebrows returned to their normal position. She was softening her before she actually told her off. "I'm also here to say thank you."_

_"Thank you?" questioned Rose, sure that her sensible mum was talking rubbish. _

"_Yes, thank you. You see Rosie I know you must have been terribly afraid of telling me the truth but if you hadn't I don't think your father and I would have sorted this out." _

"_That's what Al said." replied Rose. Hermione smiled. _

_"Ah, seems he's not so stupid, eh?" Rose let out a little laugh. "Look Rose I don't want you to feel guilty about what happened. I want you to just try and move on, we don't blame you so neither should you." Rose nodded. _

"_I was just so scared that I was going to lose you so I told dad and then I lost him." her eyes brimmed with tears and Hermione pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. _

_"It's okay dear, it's okay. We're both home now and we're not going anywhere." Rose nodded. _

"_When does Dmitri leave, I need to apologise to him." Hermione smiled even more at her daughter's maturity. _

"_He leaves tomorrow afternoon." Hermione smoothed her wild hair and got to her feet. When she'd reached the door she turned back to look at her daughter. "Rose if you want to learn anything from this it's don't meddle in things that you don't understand, nothing good will ever come from that." Rose nodded and her mum flicked the light off. As she settled back into her covers she vowed she would take that statement to heart and live by it. _

* * *

><p>There was another silence when Rose finished.<p>

"How did it end?" asked Caly. Rose frowned at her. "I mean between you and Dmitri."

"Oh." said Rose. "We're friends, he forgave me." Caly nodded.

"And Aunt Hermione and Viktor, are they still friends?"

"Yes." said Rose. "My dad's sort of friendly with him too." Caly nodded.

"I'm sorry Rose." she said eventually. "I had no idea." Rose shrugged.

"It's just, that's why I was so scared." she said. "I was terrified of losing my parents and I swore I'd never look back, only forwards and then I get faced with a situation in which I could lose my best friends and there's all this shouting and I just freaked out." Caly nodded.

"We all do that, if we get drawn into a situation that has happened before we think of it. However it's rarely good." Rose nodded.

"Caly did I do the right thing?" Caly blinked at Rose.

"About what?" she asked.

"About telling my dad." Rose looked generally scared of what her answer could be. Caly chewed on her lip, thinking it over carefully.

"Yes." she said in the end. "I think you did." Rose's eyes went wide.

"Really?" Caly nodded, more sure of herself now.

"I think you forced out into the open a problem that was slowly eating away at your parents. You forced them to, eventually, talk out the problem and solve it, even if things didn't go quite to plan in between." Rose smiled.

"You really think that?"

"Yeah, I do." Rose frowned slightly.

"So do you think the ends justify the means?" Caly sank back into the sofa, considering the question.

"I think it depends."

"On what?" asked Rose, genuinely very curious.

"The situation. In your case I think, yes because, though you hurt them, they were happier, far happier in the end and the situation shouldn't be a problem anymore." Rose nodded.

"What about more serious things?" she asked.

"Like what?" Rose paused, feeling the atmosphere.

"What about revenge, murder?" Caly let the question hang between them for a long while.

"I think that murder can only be justified in very extreme cases, or if there's no other option." Rose frowned, listening intently. "I think there are examples in which killing someone is the only thing to do, like Voldermort." Rose nodded. "Or if you kill someone because they're trying to kill you and you don't have another choice."

"So if Hardingly came to the school tomorrow what would you do?" Caly's brow sunk as low as it could go. She turned away from Rose.

"I don't know." she said finally. "I don't, I don't think I could." Rose stared at her.

"Really?" Caly nodded.

"It's like I said to Scor, you want to kill for revenge because you want them to suffer but if you kill them than it's all over in a second. There may even be no pain, but send them to jail for their life. Trap them inside their own head, all on their own." she shook her head. "That's horrible." her voice had drifted away. "I don't think, even if my life, or someone I cared about's, depended on it. I proved that last year." She turned back to Rose. "Why?" Rose chewed her tongue, searching for the right.

"I guess I wanted to know how you stood on revenge. I wanted to know what you'd do if Hardingly came back." Caly nodded.

"I couldn't kill him, I don't want Scor to kill him." she shook her head. "They say 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'."

"Huh?" asked Rose confused.

"It's a saying, no idea where it comes from. It's about revenge and what happens if you take it. You could change it to 'a life for a life makes the whole world dead', if that makes more sense to you." Rose nodded.

"I see."

"What would you do Rose?"

"What would I do about what?" asked Rose, though she had a pretty good idea she knew what Caly was talking about.

"What would _you_ do if Hardingly comes back?" Rose deliberated. What would she do?

"I don't know." she said. "I…I can't imagine myself killing anyone, no matter how much they deserved it. Think about it, Uncle Harry didn't _actually_ kill Lord Voldermort. I mean he did but at the same time he didn't point his wand at him and say the curse." Caly nodded. "I guess, if was ever going to kill someone, it would have to be like that. I don't think I'd ever have enough hate to say the curse myself." Caly raised her eyebrows at that.

"Oh you'd be surprised." Rose looked at her.

"You think, maybe, I could?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know how powerful you have to be to perform the killing curse, but I reckon Scor's pretty close to that. The man killed the only person that loved him for 11 years. He killed the person that protected him and made all those long days he spent alone with his father seem a little less painful." Rose nodded along to what she was saying until she picked up on something that didn't add up in her mind.

"Wait a second, his dad didn't work?" Caly shot her an incredulous look.

"No." she said. "How many people do you think would have happily hired someone with the name 'Malfoy', his mum works-worked-at the ministry, I think. When she got her job there she wasn't married to his dad so she didn't find it that hard to get a job, once she married him they couldn't very well fire her for who she'd married and I don't think she changed her name when she worked." Rose stared at her, slightly open mouthed.

"You know a lot about him." Caly shot her a slightly confused look.

"Yeah he's my best friend, well one of my best friends."

"Yeah but-" said Rose. "I don't know that much about him and I bet Al doesn't either." Caly shrugged.

"So he talks about his childhood with me? You can't honestly blame him, you two didn't exactly have very difficult upbringings." Rose stared at her.

"That doesn't mean he can't talk to us!" she said very offended. Caly ran a hand through her hair and bit her lip nervously.

"Rose I probably shouldn't be telling you this but Scor thinks you'll freak if you find out about his childhood." Rose narrowed her eyes at Caly.

"How much do you know that I don't?" Caly licked her lips nervously.

"A lot, but Rose please, he's trying. It's just… he cares about you, and your friendship far too much to tell you what's happened to him." Rose frowned at her.

"I really don't understand." Caly made a face, pursing her lips tightly together.

"I know." she said. "And that's the problem." Rose let silence descend once more trying to understand what was going on here. Finally she asked

"Caly do you trust me?" Caly shot her an incredulous look.

"Of course I do." Rose nodded but didn't give an answer. "What is it?" Rose shook her head.

"It's just sometimes I really get the impression you don't. Caly I hate people keeping secrets, I hate not knowing everything." Caly pulled a sympathetic face.

"Rose I keep secrets for one of two reasons. One, because someone's asked me to, like you've just, and two because I don't want to think about things. Besides," she said suddenly. "if you don't like people keeping secrets, why did you tell me to keep this a secret?" Rose gaped at her, unable to give a genuine response. Caly raised an eyebrow pointedly at her.

"Fine." said Rose. "It's clear to me that I got it wrong again." Caly widened her eyes, not sure what Rose was talking about. "I've misjudged you, Caly." Rose walked off and left Caly sitting in her chair, completely confused.


	13. Red Letter Days

Red Letter Days

The week passed in a strange fashion for Caly. Whilst Al and Scor seemed to be in high spirits and running around like hyperactive five year olds, Rose stayed silent and spent most of her time working. Caly wasn't sure whether the two of them were arguing or whether Rose was doing some serious thinking. They didn't hear anymore about Hardingly but Al got a long letter for all of them telling them on no account were they to go looking for him (that part was really directed at Scor), that there was extra security around the castle and to look after themselves. James had also been sent a letter that he could go on the Hogsmeade but that he must stay with at least three other people which sort of blew his ideas of a Valentines date with Mindy out of the window. Shockingly the two of them were still together but they were all pretty sure he must have been with _someone else _in the whole month and a bit they'd been back together. In the end James agreed that the Scarmander twins would go with them but stay a little away. However that wasn't for another two weeks so he didn't have to worry about it now.

"Caly." Caly spun on the spot from where she'd been staring out of the window. She smiled when she spotted James.

"Hi." she said, making her way across the sitting room.

"Ready for another barrage of 'this is Lily and James II'?" he asked her cheerfully and Caly rolled her eyes.

"Nope but it looks like I have to be." they walked together towards the portrait hole.

"Where's Al, Rose, Scor and, I'm guessing, JP?" he asked. Caly rolled her eyes, again.

"You know it may have escaped your notice, but we're not joined at the hip or anything." James laughed.

"Sorry."

"And I take it you also haven't heard of _being on time_." she gave him a glare and he laughed, a lot louder than before.

"Of course I have, don't be stupid, I just don't put it into practice."

"Oh very funny." she replied. James grinned, practically bouncing along the corridor. "What is up with you?" she asked. "You're _very_ hyperactive, and that's saying something."

"I'm just happy, can't I be happy."

"Sure." she replied, shrugging. "But can't you expresses it in a calmer way." James blinked at her.

"How would I do that?" Caly shook her head.

"Never mind."

* * *

><p>Slughorn, she realised when she'd entered his office, had decided to up the game of his parties. Last year they had been relatively simple suppers throughout which they had been forced to listen to his various stories of successful protégés. Today the room was filled of more Hogwarts students <em>and<em> more ex-pupils of Slughorn, all standing around and chatting with delicate pastries in their hands. Caly glanced at James and saw the grin on his face growing. This was the kind of place he thrived in, being the centre of everyone's attention and the focus of all the talk.

The two of them soon split. James had spotted someone who he revered, Caly hadn't stuck around long enough to find out who or why, and Caly had sought out Al who was hiding in a corner, behind a drape.

"Very cosy." she commented as she leaned against the wall. Al scowled at her slightly.

"I hate parties." he grumbled. Caly raised an eyebrow at him.

"Aren't parties places where you're supposed to have fun."

"Yeah, emphasis on _supposed to_." he shook his head. "Parties are the worst thing about having 'The Chosen One' as your dad."

"Really?" asked Caly. "There must be something worse."

"Well spending your entire life with reporters breathing down you necks. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my dad, and my mum, and I know my upbringing wasn't half as hard as my dad's or yours or Scor's but sometimes I just want some quiet. I just want to be anybody else, to do something and not be judged and commented on." Caly nodded along with what he was saying. Al always surprised her by how sensitive he could be, he rarely complained about things and he always seemed to know that his problems were smaller and more insignificant than others'. "You know." Al continued, sitting on the floor, his back against the wall too. "It's one of the things me and James _really_ argue about." Caly frowned.

"How so?"

"Well, I look _exactly_ like dad don't I?" he said. "Therefore I get more attention from people because I'm 'mini Harry'. Also I have a very _unique_ name. Everyone thought dad hated Professor Snape and then he names his son after him. I mean I hate attention but I get more but James craves attention and gets less, especially if we're together. He always yelled at me for complaining about all of it." Caly looked mildly surprised.

"That doesn't sound like James." Al shot her a funny look.

"You haven't really seen all sides of James. I mean he really likes you. He wants to protect you and, yeah, he wants to look after me too but he really goes out of his way to keep an eye on you." Caly frowned, she supposed that was sort of true but

"I've never really noticed that." she said back to Al. "I mean, I know he wants to look after me but I never thought he'd go out of his way to do it, it doesn't really seem like him." Al chewed on his lip absentmindedly as he nodded along to what Caly had been saying.

"Trust me he does, he treats you like another little sister." Caly frowned.

"I didn't think Lily and him were that close."

"Mm they're not, but that's because Lily hasn't entered 'the big bad world' yet. Believe me, when Lily gets to Hogwarts, James'll be over her like a hawk, and when she gets to dating age-"

"Which could be as young as 12." interrupted Caly, Al glared at her and continued.

"-it'll be death for each boyfriend that she has." Caly nodded, she supposed that would be true.

"But you and James." she said, returning to the original topic of conversation. "You're not like enemies."

"No we're rivals." said Al and Caly frowned, not having seen the brothers in that way. "It's sad but true. When James young and immature."

"You mean now?" Al laughed and shook his head.

"Okay, let me rephrase that, when James was young_er_ and _more _immature he decided that I was his rival."

"Why?"

"Erm because I looked like dad and got more attention, I presume, I never asked."

"Well duh." said Caly. "It's not a normal question is it." Al rolled his eyes.

"So anyway, I'm hiding in here to escape any unwanted questions and, by extent, my brother. What are you doing?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know, James left to go talk to someone he idolised and I don't socialise well on my own so I decided to come and keep you company." Al smiled.

"So thoughtful." he said. "What are Scor and Rose up to, can you see?" Caly peered round the drape and saw both of them in the centre of a rather large crowd.

"Talking." she said, withdrawing her head. "To lots of people."

"Yeah, thought something like that might be happening, that's where we differ from them." Caly frowned.

"How so?"

"Well they want to stand out, don't they. They want to just do something that differentiates them from the name they've got whereas you and me." he gestured unnecessarily with his finger. "We prefer to blend in, to not be noticed. We still want to be what makes us stand out but we don't want it to make us stand out, if that makes sense." Caly nodded.

"We want to be us, but just the invisible version." Al grimaced.

"Not going to be happening any time soon though, is it?" Caly shrugged.

"You never know."

"Al." asked Caly once they'd sat in silence for nearly five minutes. "Is Rose really mad at me?" Al bit his lip.

"I don't know." he answered in the end. "I really don't know." he rumpled his hair in a distracted manner. "I think she's more upset than angry." Caly pulled a face.

"Doesn't make me feel better." Al shrugged.

"What happened? Or can't you tell me." Caly gave Al a quick outline of everything that had happened between them and Al sat in silence once she'd done, tapping his lip. "I think she was testing you." he said finally.

"Testing me?" asked Caly, confused.

"Yeah." said Al nodding. "Look, we both know you and Scor are keeping secrets, we'd kind of have to be really dumb to not have noticed that." Caly didn't say anything. "I guess Rose was trying to see whether or not you treat us all the same."

"How can she possibly know how I treat Scor?"

"Well she has two eyes and her brain does the rest." Caly raised both her eyebrows at him.

"You test my patience Potter."

"Look Rose draws conclusions from things she sees, you saw that. Rose thinks differently to you and me. She's a bit odd. She'll see something before and understand it to mean that and then see it again, in different circumstances, and automatically assume it means the same thing." Caly stared at him.

"You know Al, there are times when I seriously wonder whether your stupidity in lessons is an act."

"It's not." assured Al. "I'm useless at most subjects. I just… I've known Rose my whole life and she's more like another sister than a cousin." he shrugged and then sighed. "I don't always get was goes through her mind because she makes these frankly weird leaps of logic but she always comes to some sort of almost, possibly, right conclusion." they fell back into silence again. Caly chewing her lip in an unnecessarily forceful manner.

"You okay?" asked Al eventually. "Is what I told you about Rose upsetting you?" Caly shook her head.

"I'm not thinking about that." she said.

"Oh?" responded Al curiously. "What are you thinking about, then?"

"The clue." said Caly quietly.

"You've made headway?" asked Al excitedly.

"I wouldn't say that." said Caly. "More I had an idea that I can't quite fit together."

"Well go on. You can bounce it off me and see what happens." Caly smiled gratefully at him.

"I guess it can only do good seeing as I need someone to tell me about things I don't know about the Wizarding world." Al nodded and waited for her to continue. "This is going to sound weird but do you have a Christ figure?" Al stared at her, utterly confused.

"A what?" Caly ran a hand over her face.

"Do you have a God?"

"What's a God?"

"I'll take that as a no." she said. "Basically a God is.." she trailed off trying to put simply into words what a God was. "A God is some higher power that people believe in." Al frowned.

"Why?"

"No idea, I don't believe in one. People worship them in things called religions." Al continued to frown. "There are lots of religions and one of them is Christianity, it's probably the one I know most about. Basically about that what I was actually thinking was that in Christianity Christ, who's the son of God, sacrifices himself on the cross for mankind. He forgives everyone, even those who have sinned."

"So he sees good in everyone." said Al, cottoning on.

"Precisely."

"Muggles never cease to amaze me." said Al shaking his head. "The things they think of." Caly smiled at his wonder.

"Anyway what I really want to know is there anyone, anything, like that in the Wizarding world?" Al pulled a face.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Can you think of anything like that?" she demanded.

"Nope." said Al, shaking his head. "I don't think there's anything like that." Caly pursed her lips tightly together, still deep in thought.

"So, what do Wizards believe happens when you die?" Al frowned.

"I'm not really sure, my dad always talks about 'going on', but I don't really know what that means."

"Going on?"

"Yeah, like I said I don't really understand. You know both he and Scor ended up in some limbo like place?" Caly nodded, listening intently. "Well I always got the impression that you went there and then you made the choice to 'go on' or come back."

"So you can just choose not to die? That isn't right."

"No, by 'come back' I mean in ghost form. That's what ghosts are, the imprint of a persons soul if they choose not to leave the world." Caly nodded, that made sense.

"So is there any point in which you can't 'go on'?" Al pulled another face as he thought.

"Well, Voldermort couldn't because his soul was so deformed, but.." Al shrugged and the two of them sunk into thought. "Hang on!" cried Al suddenly. Caly looked up at him.

"What?"

"I remembered a story my dad told me." Caly frowned at him.

"A story?"

"Yeah, some work thing he had to do in America. Basically he told me about this community of witches in Salem and they believe that if you do something wrong you must either; offer yourself up in sacrifice or someone else must sacrifice themselves for you. It cleanses your soul, makes it pure and enables you to 'go on' when you die seconds later." Caly frowned.

"So what are we thinking here?" asked Caly. "That death sees good in everything?" Al frowned.

"That sounds a bit weird."

"Tell me about it, but then again this game isn't exactly normal." Al nodded.

"If it is death, what do we do now? I mean death isn't a thing, right?" Caly shrugged.

"No, I guess not." she pursed her lips. "Maybe it's souls?" Al looked at her.

"Souls?"

"Well if we've established the thing that sees good in everyone is… death, then maybe it's souls, the next clue, because that's what death judges you on?" Al pulled a face.

"Yeah, that sounds… plausible." they sat in silence until Al said. "But aren't we looking for true beauty _not_ something that sees good in everything, that's just our way of getting there." Caly frowned. Al was right, that was what they were looking for.

"Al, what do you know about souls?" Al stared at her, looking a bit anxious.

"Not much… except my dad always said it was nearly impossible to have a _truly_ pure soul. He said, think of them as a spectrum of white, true, dazzling, beautiful, white to the deepest, darkest, ugliest, black."

"So a true soul, is true beauty?… And." added Caly, on a burst of inspiration. "They probably saw good in everyone because their soul is completely untainted." Al's face burst into a grin.

"That's genius! But is this person real?"

"No, I think it's a hypothetical person."

"So is it more about souls?" Caly shrugged.

"Your guess is probably as good as mine." Al chewed on his lip, his green eyes alight with concentration.

* * *

><p>"Dinner!" the drape behind which they were sitting was ripped back and they saw Scor and Rose standing there. Al and Caly blinked up at them, blinded by the bright lights that had appeared as the natural light faded to nothing.<p>

"What were you guys doing?" asked Scor as Caly and Al got up to their feet and brushed the dirt from the floor off themselves.

"Solving clues." said Al, pushing his glasses a little higher up his nose, and paling when he saw lots of people staring at him.

"Really?" exclaimed Rose. "How did it go?"

"Quite good." replied Caly. "We'll fill you in later." Rose nodded, most of the other teams were here so it would be extremely unwise to discuss their progress in front of them.

"Don't worry Al." said Scor as he watched him eyeing all the guests who were looking at him a little predatorily. "You can sit between me and Caly and Caly can sit next to James." Caly almost groaned. "And Rose can sit next to me, that way you'll be shield from them." Al smiled gratefully as they took their seats and found that opposite Al, probably specially positioned, were Molly and Ally.

Dinner passed without much of note. People did try to get Al to talk to them, especially this very irritating journalist who wanted Al to give her an interview. Al clammed right up and didn't say _anything_ in case she wrote it down. If he spoke he whispered to those nearest him; Caly and Scor, and they passed it on to anyone else. James struck up a discussion about chess with a man sitting diagonally right from him, who was the wizarding world chess champion in 1989, and Caly soon got involved. Rose was drawn into a heated debate with a man from The Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures about Dragon poaching. Al and Scor spent most of dinner talking to each other about their chances in the game against Hufflepuff next week, which meant they ended up talking with Molly, Ally and Michael, who was a beater.

* * *

><p>"So." said Scor. "Where do we go from there?" the four of them were sitting in the common room after Slughorn's party, it was late and they definitely should be in bed but they couldn't sleep until they'd at least discussed the game. Caly and Al had given them the full details of their thoughts on the puzzle and what they thought was the next clue.<p>

"Possibly, horcruxes." they all looked at Rose, she was sitting furthest from the others and playing absentmindedly with her hair.

"Horcruxes?" asked Caly. "As in the things that Riddle put his soul in?"

"Yeah." said Rose. "I was thinking, when I spoke to my dad about this kind of thing, he made it sound like you lived forever when you 'went on', so maybe horcruxes because there you rip your soul, your completely damaged and if you're killed you can't go on."

"I reckon that's possible." said Scor.

"I'll write to mum, she's writing a book on Horcruxes."

"Really?" asked Caly.

"Yeah, she started researching them in her spare time after the war ended. I think they freaked her out a bit. It's nearly a thousand pages long and I don't know what most of it's on, but she's probably the closest thing to an expert there is on horcruxes."

"Brilliant." said Scor, yawning. "Let's head to bed before I have to heave Al up the stairs." Caly looked at Al and saw that, as Scor had predicted, Al's eyelids were drooping. She stared at him for a bit longer, remembering what Rose had told her in her story. Al slept funnily at night because of James and Freddie. Did that bother him? Did it bother them?

* * *

><p>"Rose." Caly was sitting in bed, the blankets drawn right up to her chin and Rose was pouring herself a glass of water from the jug on the windowsill.<p>

"Yes Caly?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"I know what you mean and I'm not immature enough to say 'you just did', so yes, you may ask me something." Caly licked her lips nervously.

"Why did you say you'd misjudged me?" Rose sat down on her bed, legs crossed, the cup resting between her hands in her lap.

"I don't think I was very clear about what I meant." she said finally. "What I meant is, I don't mind people keeping secrets in secret." Caly raised her eyebrow, not sure what she was talking about. "What I mind is people keeping secrets in the open." Caly shook her head.

"I'm not following."

"Look, you're not flaunting everywhere that you know some giant secret about me, but with you and Scor it's like everything comes back to this secret you're keeping." Caly frowned, not entirely sure she knew what Rose was talking about.

"So you're saying is you don't mind people keeping secrets if you don't know they're doing it but if you know, then it bothers you?"

"Yes." said Rose nodding. Caly rubbed a hand over her mouth, thinking hard.

"Rose." she said finally. "If I had my way you'd know, I can promise you that, but it's not about me it's about Scor." she sighed. "Rose I need you to promise me something." she said and Rose began to nod, slowly. "That when, and I mean when, Scor tells you what happened you won't freak." Rose's eyes widened slightly.

"Do you think I would?" Caly shrugged.

"I've no idea how you'll react but you need to not freak out and make some rash decision. You need to keep calm and think it through." Rose nodded slightly, drinking her water down in two gulps.

"I can't really promise that, but I'll try." Rose got into bed, pulling up the blankets so she looked similar to Caly.

"You know I still don't understand why you said you'd misjudged me." Rose tilted her head to the side.

"I'm not sure either." she said, laughing slightly. "I guess it just sort of slipped out. I wasn't really thinking."

"There's a first."

"I think, I just thought you'd treat my secret with a little more... _respect_ than the way you did."

"Like I treat Scor's?" Caly guessed.

"Yeah, I just…. I noticed that it took you ages to agree to me telling you something."

"Did it?" said Caly, surprised.

"Yeah, I thought you were going to say no, that you didn't want to hear what I had to say, and then when I told you that you could tell Al but not Scor and you frowned at me and I thought you were offended that you couldn't tell Scor." Caly began to laugh as she realised what Rose was talking about.

"Oh Rose!" she said, a little exasperated. "I see what Al means now, you do make strange jumps of logic." Rose frowned at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well." she said leaning her head back against the headboard, still smiling. "When I was silent and you thought I didn't want to hear about it I was actually wondering if you were going to tell about your problem when we rowed."

"Which I was."

"And, also, last time someone asked me that I will honestly say that, whilst it benefited them, a part of me would rather not have known."

"You're talking about Scor, right?"

"Of course, and when I was frowning I was trying to work out when this happened because you must have told Al so it was likely to be quite late childhood."

"Oh." said Rose. "Now I feel kind of stupid."

"Another first, oh no you've felt stupid before."

"Caly!" they fell back into silence, though this one was much easier than the others that had hung between them that week.

"Rose are you still annoyed with me and Scor keeping secrets?"

"Honestly, yes."

"Are you ever going to be not annoyed?"

"Probably when I find out." Caly nodded, reaching up to draw the curtains she said.

"Goodnight."

"Night."

* * *

><p>Caly didn't see her friends much that week because they were in training for the game against Hufflepuff everyday after school. They were also informed by Maise that none of them would be going to Hogsmeade, this didn't really affect Rose, Scor or Al, but the rest of the team were incredibly disgruntled. Scor kept muttering about her being a slave driver and that they weren't going to win anyway. Al had taken to hitting Scor with textbooks whenever he came up with his pessimistic views on their chances against Hufflepuff. Al was being optimistic because they were doing twice the practice that Hufflepuff and Rose was keeping her views to herself but did say that if they went into the game thinking they were going to loose then they probably would. When they were training Caly spent her time reading the book on horcruxes that Aunt Hermione had sent them. It was heavy going and Caly didn't understand lots of it but she jotted down bits that sounded important.<p>

"Hey." Al was reading the Quidditch section of _The Prophet_ which his mum wrote. "Mum didn't write this." Everyone looked at him, not overly interested by the news.

"Maybe she took a day off, she can't write every article." Scor was hastily copying Caly's charms essay, she'd gotten the answers of James after agreeing to a rematch in chess, which he lost, because he hadn't had time to do it last night.

"No." said Al, shaking his head. "She _always_ writes the match review when the Harpies play. She's never missed a game, not even when she was pregnant with us. She actually went into labour with Lily at one of the matches." Caly spat out some pumpkin juice as she began to laugh. Scor, too, began to crack up at the news. Rose just shook her head having heard the story before.

"Who wrote the article?" she asked, trying to sound interested.

"Hallie Skeeter." this made Rose drop her cup with a clang.

"Watch it!" hissed Scor, hastily sweeping his and Caly's essays off the table before they were ruined.

"_Hallie Skeeter_." hissed Rose. "Are you sure?" Al threw the paper at her whilst Caly mopped up the spillage.

"Who's Hallie Skeeter?" she asked, interestedly, after Rose had dropped the paper in shock and she'd dried the table.

"She's Rita Skeeter's niece."

"Come again?" she said, even more confused.

"We _must_ have told you about Rita Skeeter." said Scor. Caly shrugged.

"You guys tell me a lot of stuff, I can't be expected to remember it all."

"Rita Skeeter is this horrible reporter, she used to work for _The Daily Prophet_ until my mum found out that she was an illegal animagus, that's when you-"

"I know what an animagus is, you explained that last year."

"Right." said Rose. "Well, she used to write lies about people and turn into a bug so that she could overhear their private conversations."

"Sort of like phone hacking then, or planting an actual bug then." said Caly and her three friends started at her blankly. "Never mind, just carry on with your story."

"There's not much more to tell really but Hallie is her niece and she writes for _The Prophet_, like her aunt used to, she's very ambitious but they all know her aunts reputation so no one trusts her. She writes for the Quidditch section, the lower divisions of the league. She hates Aunt Ginny and Aunt Ginny hates her too. There's no _way_ she'd let her write a Harpies match review." There was a cough from behind them. Professor McGonagall was standing behind them.

"Miss Weasley, Mr Potter can you come with me please." the two of them went wide eyed and pale but didn't move.

"What about Caly and Scor?" asked Rose, quietly.

"It's blood relatives only, I'm sorry." she directed the last part at Caly and Scor who just nodded, looking concerned. "Now quickly." Al and Rose clambered to their feet and followed McGonagall. Caly looked down the length of the hall and saw that Freddie, Molly, Roxie, Dom and James were all standing there, waiting for McGonagall at the door.

"What's going on?" hissed Caly in confusion and concern as she turned back to Scor. He shrugged but collected the paper off the table. Tucking it into his bag the two of them got up and headed towards the dungeons and Potions.

* * *

><p>Caly had a breeze in the next lesson. Slughorn was teaching them to brew a cough solution which was mind numbingly easy for Caly. She still half an hour to go when she'd sorted out her peeves with the method. She was surprised to find that Scor was actually struggling with this. He was ahead of the majority of the class but compared to his normal standards he was doing really badly. Caly slid her method across the table to him and he took it was an unsure expression on his face. Eventually, though, he decided he might as well try it. With the new method his potion improved dramatically. He still wasn't finished when Slughorn came round but most people were in the same situation. He smiled slightly when he noticed the corner of parchment that contained Caly's method poking out of Scor's hastily shut Potions book.<p>

That break the two of them sat in silence. Olive, Maise, Nick and Kay came hurrying over and asked if he knew what was going and they both shook their heads. They were joined not long later by Ally and Michael who were best friends of Molly's, Jay, Frank-who was no longer Roxie's boyfriend but they were still friends-and Marianne who were best friends with Dom and Roxie and Colin and the Scamander twins. None of them knew anything about what had happened and were all concerned for their friends and their friends' family.

Scor was silent during Transfiguration. He tried his hardest, as he always did, but when Liann overly critiqued his work it all went straight over his head, simply nodding and responding in the right places. Caly drew her diagrams very slowly, going over what she'd done a thousand times because she wasn't focused on her task. The free after lunch was not a welcome break as their minds were then left to wonder what was happening. They were back from dinner and about to head to astronomy when a large barn owl soared through the window and straight at Scor. Mildly surprised he took the letter off the owl and allowed Caly to pet it whilst he ripped it open. His eyes scanned it, reading faster than normal. His face turned grim when he'd finished. Thrusting it at Caly, he got to his feet heading over to where Kay, his brother and their friends were. Caly, after watching him go confusedly, turned her attention back to the letter.

_Dear Scor, _

_I don't have much time to write but you should know that Aunt Ginny is currently St Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I'm sorry that you and Caly can't be here but hospital policy dictates, due to her condition, that only blood relatives could be there. I'm only here because I brought her to the hospital. Tell who you have to; Caly, Marianne, Jay, Frank etc, but don't spread it around too much. Some version of what happened will probably appear in The Prophet tomorrow, maybe even The Evening Prophet, but it's better not to spread around that you know more than the newspaper. _

_Aunt Ginny was attacked yesterday evening in a muggle neighbourhood on her way home from work. Whoever did it hid her body and me, Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron immediately went looking for her when she didn't make it home. Unfortunately I didn't find her body till this morning meaning that the powerful curse used on her had time to set in and really take effect. As it is she's not in a good condition and the family will be staying over the weekend. Try to keep your studies up and don't get distracted. James, Al, Rose and the others should be back on Monday. _

_As to who attacked her I honestly don't know. I found her so late that all trace of the attacker had gone. There are speculations that it might be Hardingly but it's best not get caught up in that and wait for some concrete proof. Hopefully when she wakes up Aunt Ginny will be able to inform us who it was because she saw the attacker face on. _

_Stay safe Scor, if it is Hardingly, you and Caly need to be careful._

_Teddy_

Scor had come back over by the time Caly had read the letter twice.

"Frank's gone to tell Ally and Michael and Jay went to tell Marianne." he said. Sinking back into the sofa he looked questioningly at the barn owl. "Why are you still here?" he asked it. The bird simply hooted.

"Maybe you're meant to write back." suggested Caly. With another sigh Scor reached into his bag and pulled out quill, ink and parchment. Dipping his quill into the ink he began to write.

_Teddy,_

_I'm writing back in the hope that it will make your bird go away. I've passed on the news to those that need to hear it and I told them to keep their mouths' shut. We'll try and carry on as normal and we are, sort of. At least I am wondering how we'll manage in the Quidditch game on Sunday with no beaters! Also how's Mindy going to feel about missing her Valentines date with James! Please write as soon as she wakes up, we're all worried here. _

_If it is Hardinly he'll probably have messed with her memory, it seems to be a signature he's developed and you don't need to tell us to be careful, we're not stupid and we've already had that letter from Uncle Harry. _

_Scor_

Scor attached the shorter letter onto the leg of the barn owl and it immediately disappeared. Then he sat back in the sofa looking at Caly with wide eyes.

"Do you think it was Hardingly?" he asked her. Caly shrugged.

"I'm not sure." she replied, her forehead crinkled into concern. "It could be but at the same time I don't understand why. I thought he was up here, coming after us." Scor bit his lip.

"I think he's trying to get to us." he said finally. "He's trying to hurt us." Caly licked her lips nervously, remembering Mrs Malfoy. "It's like you said dying doesn't hurt, I know that, the bit before hurts but not actually dying." Sometimes Caly almost forget Scor had died. Sometimes it was so hard to believe it, he was so solid, so _alive_ because it was but she could still remember him when he was dead. It was strange. "He's just trying to hurt us, hurt us in the way we hurt him." Scor's clenched his jaw when he stopped talking. Caly nodded, she had no words to speak right now. "You were right." Caly looked at him, surprised. "I'm not going to kill him. I'm going to make him suffer." his face was stone cold and for a frightening second Caly saw his father in him. The hard, stone grey eyes so much like the man who had knocked her over and mocked her in Kings Cross. Scor seemed to have noticed the fearful expression that had crept onto her face. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Caly shook her head, her expression clearing.

"What?" Caly closed her eyes, gathering the strength that she needed to say what she was about to.

"It's just… for a second… when you were saying that stuff about making him suffer, you looked…you looked like…" Caly didn't need to finish as understanding flashed in Scor's face. The hard mask crumbled. He looked defeated.

"I can't do this." he said. "It's so hard." the tears were beginning to creep into his eyes. "I can't keep _lying_ and _hating_." Caly looked at him sympathetically. "This is the man who _killed my mother_ and for some reason hating him is _so hard_!"

"Technically Gerald didn't kill your mother, Everret did." Scor frowned at her.

"Does that really matter?" Caly shrugged.

"This man kidnapped her, held her hostage and who knows what happened there and then quite happily let his brother kill her! In my books that's the same thing." Caly shrugged again.

"I was merely suggesting a reason why it might be hard to hate him. Personally I don't think you're finding it hard, tiring maybe, but hard? No." Scor looked at her contemplatively. "But hey!" Caly continued. "Weirder things have happened. Maybe you're just a decent person."

"_Maybe_ I'm just a decent person." said Scor indignantly. "That's very insulting Caly, even for you." Caly looked shocked.

"Me insulting." they both laughed quietly, side by side on the sofa. Eventually, after they'd sat in silence for a long while, Caly dropped her head down onto Scor's shoulder. Scor rested his own head on top of hers and they both stayed like that in silence till Caly said

"We'll get through this. We will." Scor raised an eyebrow that, though she couldn't see it, Caly knew he'd raised it.

"How do you know?" Caly shrugged.

"Maybe Al's had an effect on me and I've become an incorrigible optimist." Scor laughed.

"Yeah right."

They both stayed there in silence and, because everything that had happened left them feeling tired, soon fell asleep, heads still resting on each other. This got a lot of 'awws' and 'aren't they cute!' from the older years and Olive conjured a blanket which they draped over the two sleeping second years.

* * *

><p>Caly woke up the next morning, a crick in her neck and her head on a very strange pillow. Blinking blearily she looked up and saw, to her horror, that she was in the Gryffindor Common room and her pillow was in fact Scor!<p>

"Scor." she hissed, shaking his shoulder vigorously.

"Mmm, I'll get up in a sec Al." he mumbled and swatted Caly half-heartedly with his arm.

"Scor!" she said, quite a bit louder. "Wake up!" when she yelled in his ear he jolted awake.

"Wh…" he continued to mumble. "Wh… what are you doing in our dorm Caly?" he asked confusedly. "

Take a look around Scor, you're not in your dorm." she said dryly. Scor blinked and looked around him.

"Are we in the Common room?" he asked and Caly slapped a hand to her face.

"Are you always this slow in the mornings?" she demanded.

"Generally." he said, sitting up properly. "But after dealing with a couple of stupid remarks from Al I'm normally fine. I do believe he's started to keep a list of things to say to me in the morning to get me going." Caly laughed and rolled her eyes, that sounded _exactly_ like the kind of thing Al would do. Scor took a couple of moments to get to his feet and in that time Caly had realised something.

"Scor." she hissed. "We missed Astronomy!" Scor blinked at her.

"Oh yeah." he said, sounding rather surprised. "We did, didn't we." Caly looked horrified but Scor shrugged it off. "Overy's so zoned out she probably didn't notice." Caly didn't look that reassured by what Scor said but smiled anyway.

"Yeah, I certainly hope so."

At breakfast it seemed that the entire house had seen them asleep on each other and took great pleasure in ribbing them about it. Caly was scarlet by the time they'd finished and Scor was eating one more slice of toast to prepare himself for the practice ahead of him.

"Look on the bright side." said Scor. "At least you didn't fall asleep on James or anything, now that _would _be embarrassing." Caly looked quite horrified by that thought.

"Imagine if Slughorn heard about that."

"See, always a silver lining."

"Now who's the optimist." Scor rolled his eyes at her and got up when Maise was beckoning to him.

"Fancy watching practice, now that you can't play chess with James?" Caly considered the offer. "Sure, I'll go grab the horcrux book and I'll meet you down there in five."

* * *

><p>When Caly got up into the stands she could see most of the school leaving for Hogsmeade and she saw that most of the team looked quite rueful not to be going. Caly sat at the front of the stands and watched as they kicked off the ground began to fly. They looped up and down the pitch, swerving in complicated patterns and rolling at seemingly random moments. When they came to a stop they were about height level with Caly and Scor grinned at her.<p>

"Right!" called Maise over the bitter February wind. "We need to think about this carefully! Nikki and Olive you're both going to be playing, as are you Colin but we _need_ another beater."

"What about Jay?" called Kay. Jay widened his eyes.

"I haven't played beater for years!" he called back. Maise seemed torn.

"Right now you're the best we have, just give it a shot, if you're awful I'll have to come up with another plan!"

"Hey." Caly looked to her left and was only mildly surprised to see Nick making his way towards her.

"Hi." she said as he took a seat in the stands next to her. He squinted at the pitch and saw them all taking up positions.

"Jay's playing beater?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah." replied Caly. "They don't have another choice." Nick nodded.

"It might work, Jay's a talented player, the only reason he's not on the first team is because Kay is. For some crazy reason all the kids play in the same position. Even May, their little sister plays it." Caly looked at him incredulously.

"Are the seriously called Kay, Jay and May?" Nick nodded, wiping some hair from in front of his face.

"Yep, and they're not even short for anything." Caly frowned and shook her head, unsure why anyone would do that to their children.

The next two hours was pretty dull and Caly had taken to reading her book. They went through drills over and over again and then Colin and Jay began to practice with one bludger, getting Jay's aim good, the chasers got used to playing as a unit, aiming at Kay and Nikki chased the snitch around the pitch.

_Once you've concealed your soul in an object it is impossible to reattach it by any magical process. There is no spell that can mend what is broken in these terms. The energy used to break a soul is equal to that used in the killing curse. As discussed previously to rip the soul requires the amount of hate and desire to kill. Therefore only a powerful wizard may rip their soul as any normal wizard will not have the power, excepting extreme circumstance. _

_The only way to reattach one's soul is to feel a remorse so deep and true so that the emotional energy is equal to or greater than the force used to break it. Once repaired the soul never truly heals. 'Scars' are formed as the act of ripping it defies nature that mutate your soul slightly. The colour will move from a deep, dark black to a moderate grey (see Atman's soul spectrum). Furthermore the energy that will be needed to re-break the soul will be less, owing to the rips which it contains. _

_A horcrux is an animate being. It lives inside of it's case which serves to protect it from harm and cannot be penetrated by any object save a few (see chap 7). A horcrux has the power, as it is conscious, to possess and take over another human. Should the body of a person be destroyed but their horcrux lives on it may drain the life of a person so that the bearer of the horcrux may return._

_The horcrux, being a thing of evil, finds it simple to defy nature and absorb all the living energy from a person. It does so by-_

Caly stopped reading, she didn't understand any further. Aunt Hermione stared talking about 'potential energy' and 'residual life'and worst of all 'emotional force conversion'. Caly didn't really understand what that meant, though she was pretty sure that she understood the bit before and quickly summarised it in her note book.

"What are you reading?" Nick had picked up the book and was weighing it in his hands.

"Something for the game." replied Caly, deliberately elusive.

"Ah." said Nick in understanding. "That looks awful." he added sympathetically. Caly shrugged.

"It's not so bad, just a bit difficult to understand. Plus I don't really know what I'm looking for." Nick opened his mouth when he got distracted by the Quidditch game that was happening before them.

"Duck! Duck! DUCK!" Caly looked up and saw Scor speeding towards the goal, Quaffle under one arm, oblivious to the bludger chasing after him. He seemed to have sensed it, or heard Nick's shouts, because he then performed a perfect sloth grip roll. Rolling the broom over so he hung, one handed as he kept a hold of the Quaffle, upside down. When the bludger was safely past him and Jay was chasing it, he returned the right way up and threw at the smallest of the three hoops. Kay dived, both arms outstretched but it slipped through. Shooting through the hoop both Caly and Nick erupted into cheers.

"Yes!" cried Maise. "If we play like _that_ we might just stand a chance!"

The practice lasted until the sun set at around 5 o'clock, both Nick and Caly had stayed in the stands all day, eating out there with the team when they stopped for a quick break which the house elves provided.

"Excellent team!" enthused Maise. "I think we stand a chance, even though we've lost four members of our team!" there were cheers and together, exhausted, they headed back up to the castle.

* * *

><p>Scor was incredibly restless all evening. Even though they were going into the final and that they couldn't finish any lower than second there was a lot riding on the game tomorrow, mainly confidence. If they win tomorrow they'd have the confidence to know that they could beat the favourites but if they lost it could have a huge negative impact on the way they played in the final. Caly tried to be encouraging but she didn't know a lot about Quidditch so she wasn't sure what to say to boost his confidence.<p>

The morning of the game was, unfortunately, rainy. Drizzle flecked her window as Caly changed. She gazed sadly at the empty bed which was Rose's before leaving, closing the door quietly behind her. Walked down the stairs she met up with Declan and Kyle and Finn.

"Have you guys seen Scor?" she asked and they all shook their heads.

"Not our dorm." said Declan, before the other two could speak. Caly nodded and they left for breakfast.

"Michael!" she called when she saw him coming down the stairs. He smiled at her.

"Morning."

"Have you seen Scor?"

"Yeah, he's down at breakfast, left the dorm at like 5." Caly raised her eyebrows.

"I see."

The two of them walked down to breakfast together and Michael told her that Overy didn't miss either in the lesson and that they hadn't missed much. Just more plotting of the planets and stars, half of them they already had which made the task doubly pointless. Michael was showing her the latest football league tables, his dad sent them to him, and telling her what had happened last season when they arrived at the Gryffindor table and sat down near a very pale looking Scor.

"Cheer up Scor." she said. He nodded but continued to stare at the bacon in front of him. It took Caly a couple of seconds to notice the letter clutched in his left hand. "Scor…" she began, eyeing the letter with a look of great concern. He immediately threw it at her and she caught it deftly. Giving Scor one more concerned and worried glance, she began to read.

_Dear Scor and Caly, _

_Mum's got worse. She was fighting it really well and the Healers thought that she was going to wake up so they tried to revive her to make her job easier but it just made the curse worse. She can barely breathe now. Dad won't let us go in to see her. I'm back at the Burrow with the rest of my family. Uncle Charlie has taken a portkey from Romania which is bad news. If Uncle Charlie's back that means this is really serious. Freddie's working on some extendable ears that can hear through an Imperturbable Charm so that we can hear what they're saying but it could take ages. Our best bet is Teddy telling us what's happening. Dad's out hunting for who did this with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, kind of like old times for them, and Uncle Percy is investigating in The Prophet to see if anyone knows anything. He's questioned Hallie Skeeter for a long time but he doesn't think she had anything to do with this. She's not powerful enough, we reckon she just took advantage of the situation. The Dursleys have retreated back into the muggle world, they're afraid of what happened to Mum. She's not going to die, though. She's not going to. I don't care that Uncle Charlie's here. He's just worried about his little sister, he's just overreacting. Just overreacting. _

_Good luck in the Quidditch match Scor, win for all of us. _

_Al._

Caly put down the letter feeling slightly sick. She now understood Scor's manner. She was getting _worse._ It sounded like she was _dying. _If she couldn't breathe, how could she stay alive? Caly swallowed. Breakfast wasn't half as appetising as it had been a couple of minutes ago. Michael and the other second years were looking at them sympathetically, but unable to do or saying anything to comfort either of them. Caly noticed that Maise was making her way over and made a split second decision. The only thing that would take their minds off all this would be beating Hufflepuff. If they knew about them it would make them like Scor and then they wouldn't win and they'd get even more depressed. Hurriedly she stuffed the letter into her pocket. Maise smiled down at the two of them, looking slightly queasy.

"Alright there Scor?" Scor barely nodded. Maise pursed her lips into a hard line. "You'll feel better in the air." Scor didn't respond. Maise shot Caly a look. "What's up with him? He wasn't like this yesterday." Caly shrugged and Scor looked up at her, his eyes narrow and accusing. "Bring him out onto the pitch as soon as you can." Caly nodded.

"What are you doing?" he demanded the moment Maise was gone.

"What am I doing about what?" she asked and Scor practically glared at her before departing from the table. Caly bit her tongue as she watched him leave, praying that he would keep quiet about the letter, concern covering her face.

"Caly is everything okay?" Caly nodded her head at Declan and got to her feet, making her way out of the hall and towards the Quidditch pitch.

* * *

><p>The game was a tense affair. Hufflepuff didn't seem overly confident when they came walking out onto the field but Gryffindor looked…ragged. They were walking slowly, brooms trailing along the ground and Caly wondered, vaguely, if Scor had told them or whether he'd understood what she was trying to do and held his tongue. The two captains shook hands and there was a moment in which Sam, Peter's older brother and Hufflepuff captain, seemed to exchange a word with Maise and she nodded after he'd finished.<p>

"OKAY SO IT'S THE PENULTIMATE GAME OF THE SEASON; GRYFFINDOR VERSUS HUFFFLEPUFF! AFTER THAT IT'S THE FINAL AND NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TODAY WE WILL BE GETTING A REMATCH. GRYFFINDOR FIELDING A RATHER DIFFERENT TEAM TODAY, DUE TO THE LACK OF WEASLEYS AND POTTERS. NIKKI, OLIVE AND COLIN SUB INTO SEEKER, CHASER AND BEATER RESPECTIVELY BUT JAY WOOD IS MAKING A SURPRISING APPEARANCE AS THE OTHER BEATER!" Nick's voice boomed over the crowd as Madam Hooch approached slowly with the box of balls. She set them on the ground. Kicking it open the bludgers and snitch soared away. After exchanging a word with the captains and mounting her broom with the players, she threw the quaffle into the air.

"THEY'RE OFF!" exclaimed Nick as 15 blurs shot into the sky. "AND HUFFLEPUFF HAVE THE QUAFFLE. DION TO PEACHER TO MOON BACK TO PEACHER, DODGES A BLUDGER FROM WOOD-GOOD FIRST ATTEMPT FROM THE NEWBIE, DUCKS JORDAN, GOOD BACK PASS TO DION, ONE TWO WITH MOON. PEACHER SHOOTS!" all the spectators were on their feet, fingers crossed for different reasons. "WOOD SAVES!" the red and gold mass burst into cheers as Kay circled the hoops once and then threw to Scor. "SO MALFOY WITH THE QUAFFLE. MALFOY TO JORDAN, JORDAN TO MADON. EXCELLENT PASS FROM MADON TO GET IT BACK TO MALFOY. MALFOY SPEEDS AWAY AND-LOOK OUT THAT'S A BLUDGER!" there was a tense second in which the bludger sent by Sam sped at him and both Colin and Jay were too far away to help. Then, at the last possible second, Scor rolled. It was the same move as yesterday but this time it forced the keeper, Jonas Foaln, to dodge too, leaving the hoops unmarked. Scor came right round and shot at the open hoops. The quaffle passed through the middle one with ease and the Gryffindors erupted into cheers. "EXCELLENT GOAL BY MALFOY!" cried Nick who was jumping up and down. "PERFECT USE OF THE SLOATH-GRIP ROLL AND A BRILLIANT DECEPTION!"

The game was a fast and furious game. At the beginning they were evenly matched, the absences barely showing, but after they'd been playing for two hours Jay's inexperience was beginning to show. Hufflepuff were slowly gaining the lead by passing the ball between them in a leisurely fashion. This drew out the Gryffindor players and they'd dodge round and go two on one with the keeper. It was hard to stop them as their technique was flawless. It was when the score was 130-50 that disaster really struck. Jay aimed a bludger at Simon Moon who was advancing on goal with the quaffle tucked under his arm. Simon saw the bludger coming but Kay, who couldn't see past Simon, didn't. Simon swerved at the last possible second and the bludger shot straight forward and into Kay. There was a terrible second in which the bludger impacted with his stomach and he went backwards threw his goals before he fell. The crowds were silent, even the play seemed to have stopped as everyone watched Kay fall down to the sand below.

Then the stadium exploded. Simon came back up and shot squarely threw the hoops. Johnathen collected the ball and threw it Amelia Dion who caught it deftly and took another shot. The Hufflepuff supporters were going wild whilst everyone in the Gryffindor stands were silent, all aware of the horrible truth. They had no more subs! They had one less player on the pitch!

"AND GRYFFINDOR BETTER FIND A GOALIE SOMEWHERE BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING SLUAGHTERED!"

"JAY!" Maise screamed at the pale faced player who was hovering in thin air. "GET IN THE GOAL!" Jay looked wide eyed at her before throwing her his bat and zooming over to the Gryffindor hoops.

"OH!" Nick's magnified voice rung out over the Hufflepuff cheers. "IT LOOKS LIKE KAY'S GOING TO BE REPLACED BY HIS LITTLE BROTHER; JAY, WHOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS UNTIMELY DEPARTURE FROM THE GAME."

"SHUT UP NICK!" roared Scor as he flew by. "YOU'RE _NOT _HELPING!"

"DUELY NOTED SCORPIUS." he replied. "THAT'S HUFFLEPUFF IN POSESSION AND-I THINK LORN'S SEEN THE SNITCH!" Matilda Lorn was indeed shooting towards the ground. Nikki took off after her but for the life of her Caly couldn't work out where the snitch was.

"Can you see it?" she asked Declan, who was standing next to her.

"No!" he said, frowning. "What is going on?"

Matilda was inches from the grassy surface of the pitch when she pulled out of her dive and rocketed upwards and, right above the stands, Caly spotted the snitch. Nikki looked to see what Matilda was doing, still shooting downwards, and her mouth dropped open in horror. She looked back to where she was going and her broom handle impacted with the ground. Nikki was thrown forward onto the ground and the was a great moan and wince from the Gryffindor supporters.

"A PERFECTLY EXECUTED WRONSKI FEINT!" exclaimed Nick. "WHICH MEANS LORN'S ALL CLEAR TO GET THE SNITCH AND…SHE'S CAUGHT IT! HUFFLEPUFF WIN! 310-50! BUT NO MATTER GRYFFINDOR, YOU STILL GET ANOTHER SHOT LATER ON THIS YEAR!"

The promise of a rematch didn't lighten anyone's spirits much that evening. Scor just trudged up to his dormitory and refused to come out for anything. Caly had to share the note with the everyone else's best friends and they were less than happy with her for keeping it from them, whatever her good intentions. So she too retired to her bedroom and sat on her bed, guitar on lap, strumming her way through all the sad songs she knew. After that she lay down on her bed ignoring the sound of other people making their way to their dormitories and tried to get to sleep.

* * *

><p>The next week passed slowly. None of the Weasleys, or James and Al, returned to Hogwarts as Aunt Ginny's condition was still very serious. They got a letter from Al nearly everyday but most of it contained rambling and it was clear that Al was struggling with everything that was going on. The story that appeared in the paper was simply that she had been attacked on her way back from work and was found by he godson in the morning. It said that she remained in St Mungos but it had no idea of how serious it was, and there was no comments from anyone in the family. <em>The Prophet<em> made wild speculations of who was the attacker that ranged from descendants of death eaters to escaped convicts to Hardingly. There was no sign of the attacker at the scene because, as Teddy had informed them, all magic left traces but unless you knew the signature you wouldn't know the caster, and if that wasn't enough you would have to encounter their magic a lot, as well as be an incredibly skilled wizard, to detect the traces in the first place.

Professors were easy on both of them as they 'understood' that what they were going through wasn't easy. After all Caly had lived with the Potter family over the summer and Christmas holidays. The only two teachers not cutting them any slack were Overey, who's lessons were so slack anyway it didn't matter, and Liann, whose vindictive campaign against Scor meant she took pleasure in his distracted nature. Although Liann did seem to be expecting less of Caly, whether that was because of recent events or just because she'd given up any hope of Caly achieving aptitude in Transfiguration, Caly couldn't be sure.

Professor Longbottom who was a family friend held them both back after class and told them that they didn't need to bother handing in the homework for next lesson but that he found doing something like homework was a good distraction from what was going on. He told them that he had spent every evening marking and then re-marking work, to distract himself from it all. Frank told them that his dad was Al's godfather and Caly guessed that Al hadn't told them so that they wouldn't tease him anymore than they did about them calling him 'Uncle' Neville.

* * *

><p>The last letter that Caly received from Al was the best news anyone had got all week. Her and Scor were sitting eating dinner on Saturday in an oppressive silence. Their brooding thoughts were disturbed when Fawkes came flying down to them, his magnificent wings spread wide and his plume as grand as ever a top his head. He caught the eye of every student in the hall. Many first years were yet to acquaint themselves with the sight of a phoenix swooping into their hall at sporadic intervals. Caly untied the letter and handed it to Scor whilst she petted Fawkes. She could tell that he was nearing the end of his cycle because, up close, she could see that his feathers were starting to droop and his eyes looked tired. Scor threw the letter back to her but she knew what it said, just by the look on his face. He was smiling, there was no doubt about that, but there was a sort of grimness to it that made Caly sure of what she was about to read.<p>

_Dear Caly and Scor, _

_Mum's woken up! It's incredible! Apparently she was showing signs of improvement last night but dad didn't want to tell us so that we didn't get our hopes up for nothing. However he took us to see her for the first time in ages and she looked so much better. The Healers said that they'd taken off the enchantments they were using to keep her breathing and that she was sustaining life by herself. They weren't going to try and revive her because that ended badly last time but they thought she might do it by herself. Then Fawkes turned up, it was clear that he was expecting me to give him the letter for you. I hadn't written it though and I told him that but then he hopped onto mum's bed and, right where the curse had hit her, he cried. At first I thought that was a really bad thing, and Lily started to cry too, but then I remembered what my dad had told me ages ago. Phoenix tears have healing powers! I reminded Lily and not two minutes later mum was awake! She's not hurt at all and she's coming home this evening! We're going to spend Sunday with her and then we'll be back in time for school on Monday. Mum says she can't remember who attacked her, in fact the last thing she remembers is leaving work to go home. Dad's gotten really grim about that and Teddy reckons that you were right. Memory charms are Hardingly's signature which means it's most likely he's the one who attacked her. Dad's already got aurors out looking and he, Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione are going to go and hunt too. Dad's getting really serious and grim. I think it's all hitting too close to home. Well, we can talk more when we're back on Monday. Rose says hi and asks if you've made any progress, though I think that's a stupid question! _

_See you on Monday!_

_Al. _

Caly burst into a huge grin as she reached the end of the letter. It didn't matter to her right now that it was Hardingly who had attacked, it just mattered that Aunt Ginny was alive and well and that everything was going to be alright. Scor was smiling slightly at her too, still hunched over his plate. Caly could see he was really concerned, more concerned than he was relieved that she was alive. Caly couldn't honestly blame him. Now that the euphoria was beginning to leave her, the nagging worry of Hardingly crept into her mind. The worry of what he was going to do next. Who he would strike now in his quest for revenge?

"Guys!" Jay and Frank had turned up behind them. "What's the news?" Caly handed the note to Jay. They beckoned over their siblings and friends. There was soon a rather large crowd around the piece of paper in Jay's hand. There was uproar when they finished. Caly had the note thrown at her when Jay leapt on Frank and Marianne. Nick, Maise, Kay and Olive all laughed and high-fived each other. Colin ran off to tell Lorcan and Lysander who hadn't moved and Ally nearly started crying. Caly looked at Scor with a raised eyebrow. They, almost expectedly, had not grasped the seriousness of the ending. They had skipped over the part about Hardingly because it didn't affect, or worry, them as much as it did Caly and Scor.

"Let it go." she said to Scor, leaning across the table, resting her elbows and forearms on it, as Scor opened his mouth to deliver a rant about how dangerous Hardingly was. He raised an eyebrow. "Let's just be happy today and worry tomorrow." He stabbed his beef moodily.

"Fine." Caly smiled widely at him and, after a little while, he began to smile back.


	14. Dominoes

Dominoes

Al, Rose and the rest of the family flooed back in sometime after breakfast but just in time for their first lesson which, unfortunately, was Transfiguration. There was no time for talk in Liann's lesson so they did their work and guessed from their smiles that everything was okay. Liann seemed in, sort of, a better mood to have Al and her favourite pupil; Rose, back. She was certainly less vindictive towards the students she disliked. She didn't put Scor in detention that lesson and she even nodded, possibly, at his work.

"So?" the four of them, all together once more, made their way, slowly, down the staircases to the courtyard. Al looked up from where he was stuffing his textbook into his bag to answer Caly' s question.

"Mum's fine." he said. "She's recovering, taking time off, staying with Grandma and Grandpa." Caly nodded and Scor seemed to swallow, forcefully.

"Yeah." said Rose nodding. "She's not as strong as she normally is, probably won't be flying for a little while but she's still the same."

"That's great!" enthused Scor but there was something about his tone that sounded forced, and suggested that he wanted to talk about something else.

"Alright." said Rose as they found a bench in the corner, away from everyone else. "Let's talk about what you want." Scor remained on his feet, his bag between them, and he stared down at Rose, Al and Caly.

"Okay, what I really wanted to talk about was what we-" he gestured between himself and Caly. "-talked about."

"And that was?" asked Al, sounding slightly wary. Scor sighed.

"That he's trying to hurt us. Make us suffer. He holds us all responsible for his brother's death and he's trying to make us feel that pain, just like he is." there was a long silence.

"That's what we - Al, James and I - were thinking." Scor nodded at Rose.

"The question is, what do we do now?"

"Nothing." Al interrupted his two friends' fast flow of thought. "We do _nothing_."

"Al!" exclaimed Scor, half annoyed, half exasperated. "We can't do _nothing_! This man is _dangerous_, _psychotic_ and _hates us_, and he's taking it out on _people we love_!"

"_Precisely_, the guy is _dangerous_. If we go near him we'll get _killed_, no second chances. We're much better off leaving to people who know what they're doing, like dad and Uncle Ron and Teddy. Their job is to hunt dark and dangerous people." there was a silence in which Scor fumed and Rose looked uncomfortable. "Rose!" he implored. "Remember what your mum told you when you were little; 'don't meddle in things that you don't understand, nothing good will ever come from that'. That's why you wanted to get teachers involved last year and I _got that_. Now why are you changing your mind?" Rose shook her head.

"I'm not, it's just…we need to do something, right? This is our fault." Caly stood up very abruptly.

"I don't know where you got _our_ fault from, we all know that all of this was _my_ fault and _mine_ alone." she strode off and the other three sat in silence.

"We do _nothing_!" repeated Al before he walked after her. Scor and Rose looked at each other.

"Why did your mum tell you not to meddle when you were a kid?" he asked curiously. Rose sighed, sucking in a deep breath, and waiting for the next lesson bell to go, she began to tell Scor about Victor, Dmitri and her mum.

"Caly, look, even if this is your fault no one blames you!" Caly turned round to frown at Al. "How does that even _work_?" Al sighed and held up both his hands in a gesture of surrender in an attempt to not provoke Caly's unexpectedly volatile temper.

"It means that even if Scor's mum ended up in the dungeon because he was friends with you and they had no direct leverage over you, and my mum got attacked because of that, we don't blame you for it. No one really _cares_. It's like Scor said, it's _our_ problem. A problem shared is a problem halved." Caly just stared at him, getting the impression Al was saying every thought that crossed his mind without thinking about it first, hoping that it would all make sense when he'd finished. "We really care about you Caly. We're all in this together, no matter whose fault it is." Caly looked right into his eyes. As always she could read, easily, the emotion that was abiding in there. He looked concerned and worried, also a little bit afraid. "Caly, look I'm scared. My mum is a very skilled witch and she was attacked and beaten. If we go charging after them we will get killed, and I don't know about you but I don't fancy getting thar." Caly smiled at him, slightly.

"I guess not but less of the _our_ fault." Al raised an eyebrow. "Deal, let's run before Professor Longbottom puts us in detention."

"You? Never!"

* * *

><p>The Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson was Caly's least favourite lesson of the week. She'd rather sit through ten lessons with Professor Binns in a row than have one Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson in which her partner was Monica Vaisey. Vaisey was, when she wasn't being a sadist, an attention seeker. She constantly flipped her hair in a way that made Caly want to strangle her and shave it all of and she flirted with every boy within reach, including Al, Scor and <em>Professor Longbottom<em>. Every time that Monica pulled _that_ smile, _that_ expression at Professor Longbottom she had a strong desire to be sick - which had nothing to do with the small box of Puking Pastilles hidden in her bag in case the lesson became too hard.

They stayed mainly silent over lunch as Rose finished telling Scor about exactly what had happened when she was seven. Al and Caly sat in silence watching Scor's facial expression as he heard it. He generally stayed sympathetic, only looking surprised at one point-when Rose told her dad about what she thought was going on.

"Well Al." said Scor when Rose had finished. "Did something awful happen to _you_ when you were seven?" Caly cracked up over her sandwich but both Al and Rose looked a little confused before Rose put the pieces together.

"This thing that happened to you, you were seven?" Scor nodded and Al turned to Caly.

"What happened to you?"

"I suppressed my magic." Al nodded and turned back to his meal but Rose didn't miss the looks that passed between Caly and Scor. There was something she wasn't telling them.

* * *

><p>Al fell asleep in History of Magic, his head lolling onto Scor's shoulder and Scor shifted slightly so that it was more comfortable for him before carrying on his game of Hangman with Caly. Rose, as always, shot them angry, irritated - possibly exasperated - looks at their lack of learning but it was a given that she'd eventually give them her notes, probably to Scor who had developed a knack of worming that out of her.<p>

In part of the lesson Caly did stop guessing the word - it later turned out to Crumple-Horned Snorkack, what ever that was - to listen to Professor Binns. He was talking about a goblin rebellion in which they had ridden, or rather been carried, to victory on the shoulders of the House-elves. However their victory over the wizard the worked for, Harlogd, was short lived because the next day a goblin was found dead, an antique mirror in his hands, and Harlogd was standing over him. He then proceeded to massacre all the goblins in the house. When the local authorities turned up they were shocked to find the man they knew was dead standing before them, looking completely healthy -if a little bloodstained. Not a week later a different group of goblins, who worked on the neighbouring mine, attacked his house in revenge and he was killed. Caly tore a little scrap of parchment from the bottom of her scroll and wrote-

_Horcrux?_

-on it and threw it to Rose. Rose looked at it once before flipping it over and responding.

_**Most likely. It sounds like the diarythat Voldermort concealed his soul in that possessed Aunt Ginny and nearly killed her.**_

_That's what I thought. Question is, does this help?_

_**I've no idea.**_

_What do your notes tell you about him?_

_**Not much, they're about the goblins rather than Harlogd. The only thing I know about him is that he owned a tin mine and enslaved House-elves to mine it and the goblins to fashion products from it that he could sell. He was a very wealthy man and incredibly cruel. He'd murdered at least two people but the authorities were either corrupt or afraid to arrest him because he was good for the Wizarding economy.**_

_So basically he's kind of standard evil business man._

_**If that's how you want to put it, yes. **_

_**What are you two talking about? **_Scor hijacked the piece of paper on it's way back to Rose which bore Caly's response-

_It is_

Rose rolled her eyes when she read it and proceeded to write a response.

_**If you'd been listening you'd have heard that a wizard named Harlogd was murdered by his revolting goblins but the next day he came back tolife and he was ****f****ound ****standing over a dead goblin that was clutching a mirror. He then murdered the rest of his goblins. Then some other goblins that lived nearby came and attacked him and he was killed. It's obviously a horcrux.**_

_**I see, so are we thinking that there's a connection with that and the game?**_

_Seeing as the answer to the last one was horcrux, we're guessing yes._

The rest of their discussion was cut short as the bell went and Al jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes and grinned sheepishly at Scor who just patted his head which lead to Al attacking him with his textbook. It took them at least five minutes to calm down so they were the last to leave the classroom for dinner. They filled Al in all that they'd guessed on their walk. Al didn't seem to understand the significance of what they'd found out and, after thinking it through for a little bit, neither did Caly. Rose, however, was adamant that they were on the right track. Scor was more contemplative about it as he pointed out;

"How many wizards do you think have made horcruxes?" Al decided, rather unwisely, to take up the other end of the argument.

"It's possible that any wizard who's a murderer to make one."

"_Yes_." agreed Scor in a patient voice. "But that doesn't mean they do." he turned away from Al to address Caly and Rose as well. "I think are best line of inquiry is to search wizarding history, mythology, find wizards who have been killed but then lived."

"Does anyone else thing that we might be overlooking the obvious?" Al closed his mouth to look at Rose.

"How?" asked Caly.

"Well Voldermort is the most famous person that has used horcruxes. He's the reason that knowledge of horcrux is so wide spread."

"Don't you mean infamous?" asked Scor and Rose shrugged.

"That isn't the point, it's most likely to be Voldermort isn't it?"

"He hasn't been a clue before has he?" there were eye rolls at Al.

"Not unless I've lost my memory." said Rose and the other three laughed.

"AL!" the four of them looked down the hall and were surprised to see Martin running towards them at full pelt. His robes streaming behind him and his tie, which had been undone around his neck, fell to the floor. He scooped it up and continued running till he stopped dead in front of them, panting.

"Didyouhear? Didyouhear?"

"Woah." Al held up both hands to prevent him talking anymore. "Calm down, take deep breaths and talk _slowly_." Martin stood there, gulping in air, for several seconds before he decided to speak again.

"Did you hear the news?"

"What news?" asked Rose, her eyebrows still slightly raised.

"The Ravenclaws have finished!" there was a silence.

"_What_?" the four of them dropped anything they were holding and stared in horror at him.

"Are you sure?" asked Scor.

"Nearly 100% positive." he replied. "I heard Bonnie Stuart talking to Emma Corner."

"What were they saying?" asked Caly, a lump rising in her throat.

"Emma was asking what they needed to do and Bonnie said nothing, they didn't need to do anything more." there was a pause in which the four competitors shared a look of worry and confusion.

"Martin." said Scor eventually. "Are you sure you couldn't have taken this conversation out of context?"

"I'm sure." he replied. "Emma asked what more they needed to do to help them _win_. What else could it mean, they can't win the Quidditch cup."

"Could mean House Cup." said Al. There was a pause in which they all realised that this was implausible. They hadn't reached the Easter Holidays yet, there was no way they needed to do nothing more to win the House Cup, especially as they were third to Gryffindor-admittedly only by 5 points but they were still third.

"We should ask Dom." said Rose eventually. "She's our cousin, she'll be honest with us." Scor raised an eyebrow but didn't object.

"Well thanks for your help Martin." said Al eventually. Martin positively beamed at the praise.

"It was nothing, I thought it would be good for you to know."

"Yeah, well, we've got a lot to do, see you around." the four of them jumped to their feet and left Martin at the Gryffindor table, alone.

* * *

><p>"Do you think he's telling the truth?" the question left Scor's mouth the moment they were no longer in anyone's earshot. They had walked out of the castle and were walking down the grounds, with no direction or purpose, other than to get away from everyone.<p>

"Definitely." said Al and Caly nodded.

"Martin idolises Al, he'd never lie to him." Al scowled slightly at what Caly said but didn't disagree.

"Maybe they know that." said Rose. "Maybe they planned that, to throw us off course."

"They must have known it would get out, though." said Al. "They must know that Martin won't keep it a secret. The whole of Gryffindor probably knows by now."

The four of them continued to walk in silence for a little bit, wrapping the their arms around themselves against the slight chill that still hung in the late February air.

"It doesn't change much though, does it." Caly glanced up at Al who's pale cheeks were beginning to flush, rather like Scor's, in the cold. "I mean, we still have to finish. We don't want to come last." Scor nodded and Rose grimaced slightly.

"You're right, even if we can't come first - and that hasn't been confirmed yet - we could still come second. We _won't_ come where everyone expects us to."

"Now that sounds like yer parents talkin'." the four of them spun around to see, looming over them, looking as kind as ever, Hagrid. Scor took a step backwards, not overly keen on the half giant and the knowledge he had, but both Al and Rose flung their arms around him. Hagrid chuckled lightly as he patted them, very heavily, on the back.

"Alright there Caly?" Caly smiled and nodded, wiping some of the loose strands of hair out of her face as she did so. "And you Scorpius."

"I'm fine." he said, his voice ever so slightly higher-pitched.

"That's good to 'ear. Not gone an' hexed anyone else have you?" Al, Rose and Caly all laughed whilst Scor just smiled.

"No, we've just -Hagrid have you heard anything about Ravenclaw winning to game?"

"Winnin'?" he asked, his bushy eyebrows disappearing into his greying hair. "Nah, they ain't won." the four of them shared confused looks.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, fancy some tea?" the four of them had homework to do but they nodded anyway.

* * *

><p>"Now." said Hagrid. "What made you think they'd won?" the four of them were sitting at Hagrid's large scrub wooden table, large mugs of steaming tea in front of them and a pile of rock cakes that no one was willing to eat for fear of destroying their teeth.<p>

"Martin Creevey." said Al, swallowing and pulling a face as the tea burnt his throat.

"Ah, Colin's little brother." Al nodded.

"Yeah him, anyway he overheard Bonnie Stuart telling Emma Corner, who's in our year, that they need to do nothing more to win." Hagrid frowned.

"Well they weren't talkin' 'bout the game I can tell you that. Us teachers know more than you think about how you're doing." Rose tapped the side of the teacup in thought.

"So you think that they were lying, or setting a red herring?" Hagrid shrugged.

"I just know it ain't about the game. Ravenclaw's a different house to Gryffindor, all those intellects. They could be talking 'bout one of Flitwick's special challenges for all you know."

"Flitwick's special what?" for the first time in Hagrid's company Scor sounded like his old self.

"He runs these challenges inside his own house to stimulate them or something. He asked me for help once."

"So Martin probably just took it all out of context." Caly sighed as Rose voiced the conclusion she'd come to in her head. "And he's probably spread it round the school."

"The teachers will step in, right?" asked Al, looking at Hagrid. "If people are lying about that." Hagrid shrugged.

"Minerva said she wouldn't say a word till the end of term feast." All their faces sunk into a frown until Scor said something.

"Emma's in our year."

"Yes Scor, glad to know you listen to me _sometimes_." Scor ignored Al, continuing to stare at the table.

"What do you reckon that the likelihood of someone taking part in two challenges, especially someone who's in OWL year?" Caly looked at Al, one eyebrow raised, whilst Rose considered it. Hagrid sat in silence surveying the four friends.

"Unlikely." she said eventually. "Especially a Ravenclaw who's on the reserve Quidditch team. Why?"

"Well Emma's in _our_ year." he reiterated and Rose stared at him for a second before what he was implying hit her.

"No." she said, shaking her head adamantly.

"Why not?"

"Because that would go against everything they stood for."

"Really?" Rose stared hard at Scor, the two of them seeming to be engaged in a fierce, silent, battle of opinion. Al sighed and downed his cup of tea and poured himself some more.

"So I heard we lost the Quidditch match." he said conversationally. "Was it really bad?" Caly, blinking, turned to him.

"Quite, did you hear about Jay, Kay and Nikki?" Al shook his head. "Well." she said whilst sighing. "Jay was playing beater and he managed to knock Kay off his broom." Al's mouth fell open. "Yeah so he had to take over as goalie and then Matilda did something, a Ronski Faint?"

"Wronski feint?" asked Al looking surprised and mildly impressed.

"Yeah that, and Nikki hit the pitch when she followed her." Al winced.

"There's always the re-match." he said, the optimism showing clearly in his face. "Always another chance."

"You _can't _just accuse the Ravenclaws of spying!" Al and Caly both jumped and looked at Rose, who had broken the sudden silent staring match that had been happening the two of them.

"I'm not _accusing _them of _anything. _I'm simply suggesting." Rose snorted.

"Big difference."

"There was, until you opened your mouth." Rose made to retort when Al interrupted.

"Sorry, would someone care to fill us in?" Rose jumped in before Scor could reopen his mouth.

"Scor thinks that the Ravenclaws have been spying on us, trying to gain information to help us win via Emma." there was a moments silence in which Al and Caly shared a look that clearly said 'that's mad and stupid' before bursting out into laughter. It was Rose and Scor's turn to share a look of complete bewilderment at their friends' hysteria.

"What?" asked Scor, not needing to form a proper sentence to get his question across.

"Well." said Caly gasping and sitting upright once more. "It's just that we don't really _talk_ to her let alone spend anytime around her in which she may over hear us solving the clue. So, unless she has an invisibility cloak or something, she can't overhear anything." Rose folded her arms, a triumphant look spreading across her face. Scor rolled his eyes and held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, fine, it was just an idea. I just…" he faded away shrugging.

"We should go." said Rose. "We have homework to do." Al groaned.

"It's _my_ day, isn't it?"

"Not really." said Caly as she got to her feet. "It's your _and_ Scor's turn."

"Yeah I have two to do."

"Victory!" cried Caly, raising her arms over her head in celebration. "I have no work that needs doing!" Rose tutted and Hagrid chuckled merrily.

"I can't wait te teach you all." he said and they left the hut.

"When will he teach us?" asked Caly.

"Next year." said Al.

"Each year you have to pick classes." explained Scor. "Things like Ancient Runes, Divination, Arithmancy." there was a collective flinch. "Muggle Studies and Care of Magical Creatures."

"_But_." interjected Rose. "Care of Magical Creatures was so popular, everyone took it, that it's been made compulsory. You start it in third year so that you're 'responsible' enough and then you _have_ to pick two other subjects."

"McGonagall changed the rules quite a bit, apparently." said Al. "Most people, like my dad, took Care of Magical Creatures and Divination because they were both easy subjects. Also Muggle borns took Muggle Studies and they _always_ got full marks because they already knew everything. So now nobody raised in the muggle world can take Muggle Studies and you have to take _two_ other subjects as well as Care of Magical Creatures." Caly nodded.

"When do we have to do this?" she asked.

"Oh not till Easter." said Scor dismissively. "It's not such a big deal, really." Caly nodded and they stayed silent as they made their way up to the castle.

* * *

><p>When they got back to Hogwarts they were surprised to find people running around and yelling. They all exchanged completely confused, very worried looks, wondering what could possibly have caused this reaction.<p>

"It's strange how we're gone for - what - 15 minutes and all hell has broken loose." Scor snorted at Rose's comment.

"It is rather amusing, yes."

"I didn't say-"

"Hey Collin!" Al was waving at his brother's best friend who was red in the face and looked freaked out. He skidded into a halt and they both asked at the exact same time

"What the hell is going on here?" there was a pause in which no one said anything.

"We were at Hagrid's." explained Rose. "We've barely been gone." Collin nodded.

"I know the feeling. I was up in the Astronomy tower-"

"What-"

"Doesn't matter, Al, I was up there and I couldn't have been gone for more than 20 minutes and suddenly everyone is running around like headless hippogriffs."

"Mr Potter, Mr Malfoy, Miss Weasley, Miss Hautly." Professor McGonagall had come hurrying over. One hand touched her bun of grey hair nervously as she made her way through the students.

"Professor what's-"

"Not now Miss Weasley." she said. "Mr Creevey, would you please go fetch Professor Hagrid." Collin blinked for a second before hurrying down the stone steps and off towards Hagrid's little hut. "You must come with me now." the four of them shared looks of worry and concern. They were being ushered up the marble staircase by McGonagall when Professor Flitwick came hurrying down, trying to usher the pupils down into the Great Hall. For the first time they noticed that Professor Sprout and Longbottom were standing by either door, trying to get the panicking students inside it.

"Professor!" exclaimed Scor. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain when we get to my office Mr Malfoy." that was what she hoped for but two students, who running past them.

"I heard he was in the Astronomy tower." a girl told her friend.

"Who?" asked first year that had joined them.

"Hardingly." there was a moment's pause before Scor charged. He sprinted away before anyone could stop him.

"SCOR!" screamed Rose but his blonde head had disappeared into the crowd. Caly took off after him, darting away from McGonagall's hand and Al followed. Rose ran off but McGonagall caught her around the middle. "NO!" she fought McGonagall's arms but the Headmistress was surprisingly strong for one so old. "NO! Scor wants to _kill_ him! _He's going to get himself killed_!" Minerva, internally apologising, pulled out her wand and waved it. Rose Weasley crumpled, unconscious into her arms. With a sigh, she noted that the crowd had started to thin. Levitating Rose she made her way to her office.

* * *

><p>"SCOR!" Caly ran after him, there were less students here so it was easier to follow him and chase after him. Al, who was running as hard as he could, overtook her and grabbed Scor's arm.<p>

"Get off me!" he snarled, fighting Al's grip. Caly reached the two fighting boys, panting.

"Stop!" she said, pulling the two boys apart. "Stop!" there was a moment in which all three of them stood still in the suddenly deserted corridor breathing hard.

"We don't want to stop you going after him." said Al quietly. "We just want to come with you. We don't want you to get hurt. That man nearly killed my mum too." there was a pause when Scor's eyes seemed to fill with tears before he flung his arms around Al's neck. He held him tightly for a second, burying his head in his shoulder. Al clutched him tightly back and Caly stood there, waiting for the two to break apart. They did after a little while and Scor wiped his eyes and Al straightened his robes.

"We should go." said Scor and the three of them began to jog, as quickly as they could without getting exhausted towards the Astronomy tower.

Caly could feel fear beginning to enter her chest as they continued to hurry towards the tower. They could be running straight into the path of an incredibly skilled, dangerous wizard. Caly wondered, vaguely, if he'd want her wand. Would she give it to him? If she was faced with a situation like last time. Would they want her to? She knew the answer to that instantly. The answer was no. They were all Gryffindors and they were all self-sacrificing. They would rather she ran and saved herself than giving him the wand, especially as he would kill them all with it anyway.

They mounted the last staircase before they would reach the corridor to the tower. She was aware that Rose must have been physically restrained by McGonagall otherwise she would have been charging after them. She knew when, if, they came back she was going to be really cross, as was McGonagall. Scor, who was at the front, drew his wand. Al and Caly copied him, though the motion didn't give her as much comfort as it did the others because she couldn't produce any magic. She wished she could remember what had allowed her to perform the disarming spell in the dungeon. However it completely eluded her. The three of them stopped at the bottom of the staircase that would lead to the Astronomy tower. Caly felt that it sort of made sense that he was up there. After all, Professor Overy had been having an affair with his brother. She was completely broken this year and it would be easy to manipulate her. Scor nodded at Al and Caly.

"If you want to leave I'll be okay, I want to take this guy down." Caly snorted as quietly as she could and Al rolled his eyes.

"This is all my fault." said Caly. "I'm not going _anywhere_. Besides, you're my best friend." Scor nodded and looked at Al.

"I'm the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts, I think you _might_ just need me." Scor smiled properly at both of them.

"Okay then." he squared his shoulders and began to hurry, quietly, up the spiral staircase.

* * *

><p>Rose groaned. She was lying on something soft and she could hear a chatter of voices around her. She couldn't be asleep, she'd been at Hagrid's. She put a hand on the object, forcing her eyes open and blinked. All she could see was black-red. She pushed herself up and saw that she'd been lying on a red sofa. She turned over and saw Professor McGonagall sitting behind her desk, the other members of family that were at Hogwarts were all staring at her.<p>

"Wh-" she said. "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" asked Dom. Rose rubbed her face with her hand.

"I was at Hagrid's with Caly, Al and Scor." she looked round for them all instinctively. "Where…!" she jumped to her feet, wand out and hurried to the door. It was locked, she tugged and pulled and twisted the handle but it didn't yield. Letting out the deep breath she'd been holding she rested her forehead and left hand against the wood.

_Please don't be dead_, she thought,_ please don't be hurt_. _Please be okay, please be safe_.

"Rose." Molly had walked over to her, concern written all over her features. Rose turned away from the door and wrapped her arms around her 16 year old cousin. Molly held her close and rocked her slightly from side to side. She let out a strangled sob.

"They've gone after him." she choked.

"Rose it'll be okay." James had gotten to his feet and crossed to stand next to Molly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "They got out of this before, they can do it again." Rose swallowed and stepped out of Molly's embrace. Wiping her eyes, she nodded at James.

"You're right." a cocky yet goofy grin spread across his face at hearing that. "They'll be okay." she looked at Professor McGonagall who gestured to the couch. Rose sat down in between Molly and James. Molly immediately put her arm back around her and held Rose to her side, letting her rest her head on her shoulder and James took her left hand, squeezing it tightly.

"They'll be fine. At this moment you father and uncle, along with Professors Longbottom, Liann, Crasson and Fielding-"

"Who?" asked Rose.

"Our Muggle Studies professor, are on their way to get them out and hopefully capture Hardingly. Professors Sprout, Hagrid, Flitwick and Slughorn are with the rest of the students."

"Why are we here?"

"Because you're in the most danger." that point couldn't be argued with so Rose rested her head back onto her cousin's shoulder and tried to calm down. If all the those skilled witches and wizards were after them, there was no way that they could get hurt. They were going to be _fine_.

* * *

><p>Scor burst out into the Astronomy tower. It was empty.<p>

"What?" exclaimed Al who had come in in the rear. "Where is he?" Caly shrugged, her eyes trailing round the place. Scor had run over to edge to see if he was in the grounds. Al joined him casting the faint light from the wands over the darkening grounds but nothing moved out there. Caly scanned around the area, looking into the shadows as closely as she could. There was no one there, though, no one going to jump out of the shadows at them and attack them. Just as she was making her way back to Scor and Al she saw something small and white sticking out the lens of a telescope. Looking closer she reckoned it was the corner of a piece of parchment. Putting her wand away she used her left hand to steady the telescope and her right to twist the piece of parchment out. It didn't take long and she let out a smile of satisfaction as it slipped into her hand. It was folded up tightly though and as she unfolded it her stomach was filled with a strange sense of dread.

_Dear Caly, _

_It seems your attention for detail has not diminished if you're reading this. I don't have very much to tell you, really. If you're curious, and I know you are - no, I wasn't in Hogwarts, but, as I'm sure you've guessed, there's a reason I chose the Astronomy tower. Dear old Felicity Overy, finance left her, barely holding onto her job, completely broken hearted. It was easy to manipulate her you know, and you do, you really do. You know that I could easily ply her to my will. It was easy to get her to do what I wanted.-_

Caly stopped reading, cogs turning fast in her mind. What if…

_-In fact, I'm sure you've guessed it now. It was __I__ that made Mars burn as brightly as it did. It was __I__ that made her give you that warning. It was just a bit of fun, though it didn't attract your attention at all. So I realised that it would be easier to be more direct and less subtle. It took a long time to work out what to do. It didn't help that Weasley and Granger, that would be 'Uncle Ron' and 'Aunt Hermione' to you, got onto my trail. It was hard to shake them off. They were very persistent. In the end I thought I might have gotten rid of them but, alas, that was not to be true. However I was sure your dear 'Uncle Harry' would inform you and you'd get scared but again, no. I did get some attention when they found my dear old dad but it wasn't long lasting so, after some careful planning, I realised that it would be best that I just repeated myself. Granger had proved a ridiculously hard person to take down so I went after an easier target, Mrs Potter. Now that got your attention. You may be asking yourself what I want. In reality I want nothing but in truth I want my brother back. I want the life you deprived us of. So I guess now I want revenge. Sweet, painful revenge. So one piece of advice, if you like your 'family' the way they are, play along. -_

The door banged open. Uncle Harry, Ron and at least four teachers stood there. Harry hurried across and wrapped his arms around both boys whilst the others spread out. Caly hurriedly looked back down at the note, desperate to finish before they could ask any questions.

-_Be a good girl and come first. Get there first. So, piece of advice Voldermort's supporters knew nothing of his horcruxes but they believed in his 'immortality'. Then take a look at your friend, the one who's motherless-_

Caly's eyes flew to Scor and she saw that they were all walking towards her, not saying anything so that they didn't disturb her but curious.

_-then look to the skies and think of your little friend and after that remember where he ended up after I finished with him. There you'll find the last piece for your puzzle. _

_Hmm, it seems my first statement ought to be amended, that was rather a lot, wasn't it.  
><em>_Yours sincerely, _

_**Gerald Hardingly~**_

"Caly." both her hands shook as she processed everything she'd read. This was some sort of sick joke for him. Some game, and he had Caly playing to his tune now. She couldn't not do what he asked. She swallowed hard.

"Caly what is that?" this time Al was talking to her.

"Hardingly wasn't here." she said.

"How do you know that?" asked Scor. She waved the letter.

"He told me so."

"That was from him?" Uncle Harry squatted down in front of her, his eyes searching hers, looking for the answer to his question. She nodded. "May I see it?" she extended it to him. He took it off her gently and Al and Scor crowded round him, reading over his shoulder. He swallowed when he finished, closing his eyes for a second to take it all in. Scor and Al's mouths had fallen open. Harry handed the letter to Ron and the other professors also peered at him. Harry got to his feet and deftly pulled Caly into a hug. He held her tightly to his chest trying to make her feel safe. She clung to him like Al did after he'd had a nightmare, or like James had when he'd found him in the treetops when he was three just before he passed out, or when Lily had been made fun of by some of the boys down the road for her red hair. He held her tightly and let her stop shaking.

On the outside Harry knew he looked calm, if a little concerned, but internally he was reeling. This was the life he hadn't wanted his kids to have. This was what he wanted to keep them away from. All those stories he'd been trying to warn them about the danger that was out there, to show them that they needed to stay safe. He loved them and suddenly they were all in danger. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. Before the most he had to worry about was whether they were safe outside in the street, or if they were going to be fine up in the sky on their brooms, now there was so much at stake. His whole family were in danger and there was _nothing_ he could do. He couldn't find this guy, he couldn't take him down. Hardingly probably didn't even want to fight him. This was, unfortunately, between him and the children. The only thing he could do was be there for them and hold them when they got scared and worried and never let them feel alone and helpless like he had. They had one thing over him and that was someone to turn to, someone older but they knew, they'd learnt too soon, that just because they were adults it didn't meant they could fix it.

Caly stepped back, wiping a hand across her eyes and Al and Scor both stepped forward. They both dithered for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug. Harry turned away to look at Neville who was very pale.

"Is this true?" he asked, gesturing to the bottom of the parchment. Neville scanned it all one more time.

"Yes."

"They need to stop playing." it was Liann, she still had her wand drawn but her face showed no emotion at all. It was just one hard mask. "This cannot be allowed to continue."

"We don't have a choice Emily." said Harry. "They're threatening my family, and you can't seriously be suggesting that we call his bluff." Liann stepped up to him, her nose almost touching his own.

"It is endangering the students."

"He doesn't care about the others, he wants them to win, as long as they do that everyone else will be fine."

"I agree with Mr Potter." said Professor Crasson nervously. "It would be better for them to just win."

"And then what?"

"We can't plan for the future." said Neville, evenly. "There has to be a reason he wants them to win."

"We're taking too many risks." protested Liann. "I think." said Professor Fielding. "That we don't have much of a choice here." Ron nodded.

"I agree, we don't really have a choice, we might as well go with them or something."

"We should discuss this with McGonagall." said Harry. "We need to inform them that it was a stunt on his part."

* * *

><p>"A stunt?" McGonagall looked somewhere between incredulous and furious.<p>

"Yes." said Harry. "He wanted to lure Caly, I don't think he's bothered about Al, Rose and Scor. He's using our family as leverage over her."

"More blackmail." muttered Minerva. Harry nodded. He glanced back to the friends. When Al, Caly and Scor had come back in Rose had run up to them and slapped them all for being stupid. They'd all been incredibly shocked before moving away, after greeting the others, to talk in private. They were still huddled in a corner of McGonagall's office talking in whispers. Minerva had sent the rest of the Weasleys and James back to their dorms when she knew there was no danger but left the four friends to talk.

"We need to be careful." he said. "Hardingly gave them the rest of the clues so they're nearly at the end." both of McGonagall's eyebrows went up.

"He gave them the rest of the puzzle?"

"Not really, it's a little cryptic and most of it seems to refer to Scorpius in some way." McGonagall nodded.

"Yes, it was the way it was planned, but not very much just the part about the Malfoy's and the stars."

"I think he's putting it into context." McGonagall frowned but nodded. "Look can you tell me what the end of the puzzle is?" Minerva deliberated but guessed he had a right to know. One of the children was his son, another was his niece, he looked after another in the holidays and the last was his godson's cousin. She beckoned him closer so that the foursome in the corner wouldn't hear and whispered in his ear.

* * *

><p>When they got back to the common room they found that it was nearly deserted, most people having gone to bed after the tiring, if rather exciting, events of that evening. They sat down in the main armchairs in front of the low fire.<p>

"We need to go to the Hospital wing." said Rose.

"When?" asked Al. "Tomorrow." said Scor. "It's late and if we get caught we'll be in a load of trouble."

"We have the cloak." pointed out Al.

"Doesn't stop us being solid." retaliated Scor. "And we can't see who's coming. If we had James' map I might agree."

"We could-"

"We are not stealing Al, Caly are you okay? You've been too silent." Caly blinked and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm just thinking." Even Rose joined in the eye rolling at that point.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Al, placing his elbow on the armrest and resting his chin into the palm of his hand.

"Just…how did Hardingly know what the clues were?" the other three exchanged looks and frowns.

"Well." said Rose. "He was a teacher here last year." Caly nodded but both Al and Scor knew that she was thinking deeper than that.

"So?" prodded Scor, waiting for her to tell them what she thought.

"What if this whole thing was his idea?" there was a pause then

"What?"

"Just hear me out." said Caly raising her hands. "He wants us to win and that _can't_ be because he wants to give Gryffindor a shot at the House Cup, or because he wants to show the other houses that some second years can outsmart them, or so that we can feel _proud_ or _good_ about ourselves." silence. Then Rose said

"Well that's a _little_ bit obvious, but that aside, why would the school - why would McGonagall - run a game created by someone who tried to kill all of us?"

"She has a very good point." said Scor. "It's completely illogical."

"Maybe he messed with their memories." all eyes fell on Al who was still had his chin in his palm.

"That might just be the right answer!" said Rose, sounding slightly incredulous. Al rolled his eyes.

"Why do you still sound surprised?" he asked. "I've done quite a few 'intelligent' things this year, not to mention still being the best at Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Yes, yes, no need to brag."

"Like you don't do that all the time, Scor." Scor shrugged and moved swiftly on.

"If he is behind this, what do we do?"

"I say we go find the last clue and see what happens." Rose nodded to what Al was saying but Caly looked unsure.

"Are sure we _all_ have to go, can't I go on my own?"

"No Caly." said Scor immediately. "For one, I wouldn't let you and neither would they, and secondly, this is designed to be done as a team. We'll probably need to be all together for the final puzzle." Caly sighed and slumped back into the armchair in defeat.

"Let's go to bed." said Rose. "We'll need to be awake, I'm guessing." They all got to their feet.

"Do you think _he'll_ be there?" asked Al as they reached the bottom of the staircases. The others shrugged.

"Anything could happen. We don't know what he has in store."

* * *

><p>Rose sat up in bed, the covers tucked up to the chin like she always did when she was scared before bed. Tonight Rose wasn't worried about the dark or any other fear she used to have at night. Today she was afraid of tomorrow.<p>

"Caly." she whispered into the dark of their dormitory. There was a sound of shuffling and then a quiet response.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think that we're going to make it though tomorrow?" Caly shrugged.

"I don't know, I'm trying not to think about anything."

"How do you do that?"

"I said trying." there was a silence before Rose took up conversation again.

"Do you think that it counts?"

"What counts?"

"If we win, will it count? I mean, it's not like we did it by ourselves." Caly shrugged again. The darkness cloaked her movements but the sound of bed sheets gave away what she was doing.

"I don't think that matters, right now. I don't really care. Neither does Scor, I'm guessing. It doesn't seem to matter because we have the danger that Hardingly is going to kill us." Rose snorted slightly at the way Caly had phrased that.

"I guess."

Rose turned back to look at the bed hangings. She examined the stitching and contemplated taking up conversation again. She wanted her mum or dad there. Her dad had left quickly to take care of the rest of the family. She wanted them to hold her and tell her that everything was okay. Somehow the burning worry that she felt now was more than last year when they'd been waiting for the time to go to Dungeon 6 to rescue Mrs Malfoy. It was strange because they knew who was behind it. They weren't thinking about who, or why. It was just what. What was going to happen? What were the consequences going to be? Would they even survive?

* * *

><p>Al sat on the window sill, the curtains drawn slightly so that a sliver of silver moonlight fell across his face. In his hands he clutched a glass of water in his hands and his eyes stayed focused on the moon, almost unblinking.<p>

"Hey." there was a wrenching and the curtain was drawn back properly. Blinking Al looked up. Scor was standing above him, his face unreadable and his hair dishevelled. Wordlessly he climbed into the gap between the window and the curtain. Al copied him and Scor closed the curtain behind him. They sat in silence, watching the moonlight shine onto the surface of the lake. Al took a sip of water and handed it across to Scor. Scor took it, looking at it with slight confusion before drinking the rest down. He put it down between their cold feet.

"Are you alright?" asked Al, his arms wrapped around his knees. Scor, who was in the same position, tried his best to shrug.

"I guess." he said. Al tilted his head to the side.

"Do you want to talk about something? I mean, I'm no Caly but I reckon I could listen to you." Scor smiled at him, slightly.

"I just…I really wanted him to be there you know. I really wanted to get my shot at him. I mean, Caly's been telling me that it's best to send him to prison so that he'll suffer but I want to be the one to do that. I want to be the one that makes him suffer. You know I even went to the library and researched this kind of thing." Al's eyebrows shot upwards into his fringe. Scor sighed, hanging his head so that his hair flopped into his eyes. "I know, I just wanted to be able to do _something_ when I found him. I wanted my revenge." there was a pause in which he stared out of the window. "I guess that makes me no better than him." Al gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You're both human aren't you? Isn't it natural to seek revenge?"

"I guess."

"The fact is, is that you're both after revenge but he's the one that's hurting people. You haven't done_ anything_. You haven't hurt a soul, _that's_ what makes you better than him. And you, unlike him, have something else in this world, something left to loose. You've got Caly, Rose, me." Scor nodded.

"Yeah I know. I know. It's just I've done some pretty stupid things before in my life." Al looked at him, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Now I'm no genius but I'd hazard a guess you're talking about this _thing _that's been hanging over you all year." Scor leant his head back against the brick wall.

"Yeah." he nodded. "I am."

"Want to talk about that as well?" Scor eyed him.

"I don't know." he sighed heavily. "That's a lie actually. I do want to talk about it. I want to talk about it to someone other than Caly because all she tells me to do is not to worry about or that I should tell you and Rose."

"Well like I said, you got me!" Al quirked the right corner of his lips and widened his eyes slightly as he said that. Scor pressed his lips together hard and Al could see that he was suppressing a smile. Suddenly the ridiculousness of their situation got the better of them and they burst out laughing.

They both laughed for several minutes, not caring that their giggles could, potentially, wake their sleeping dorm mates. Scor had leant forward off the wall, doubling up over his knees. Al was leaning against the window, his cheek pressed to the cold glass, his breath fogging it up.

"Oh Merlin." said Scor. "That was good." Al snorted a little more before they both quietened.

"So you going to tell me anything?" he questioned.

"I guess." said Scor, swallowing slightly. "Just don't freak out." Al rolled his eyes.

"I won't and even if I felt that it was necessary I wouldn't because it'll wake up the rest of the dorm." Scor rolled his eyes.

"Right. Okay, well, when I was seven I had these 'friends'…"


	15. Fractures

_**A/N: Okay so this is the last chapter of book two and I want apologise for the delay in getting this to you. I've done my best to keep writing but school and my personal health have been a bit of an obstacle. Also this is a huge chapter and I didn't want anything to be rushed. **_

_**Book three will, hopefully, be out sometime soon because I have already started work on it but I can't be sure, yet. However, when I am ready to post I'll do what I did last time and add a little note in with the summary so that those who've story alerted will know. **_

_**So, finally, a huge thank to those of you that have reviewed, favourited or story alerted my story. Also if you're just reading it, thanks too, because it's great to know that people are enjoying what I'm writing. **_

_**Enjoy the rest of book two!**_

_**Sopphires.**_

* * *

><p>Fractures<p>

All four of them were tired the next morning when they got up. Rose had fallen asleep in the early morning and Caly had conked out not long after, just long enough to hear the heavy breathing verging on snoring that signalled Rose's departure from the world. Scor and Al had only slept for about two hours in total. The two of them had talked long into the morning. Al had done exactly as Scor had asked and not freaked out at all. In all honesty, whilst it wasn't the nicest story he'd ever heard, he was mildly surprised that he'd felt the need to keep it from them. It wasn't half as bad as he'd expected and he knew that the Scorpius then had shaped the Scor they knew now.

The news that Hardingly's appearance had not actually occurred had been delivered to the students just before they went to their dormitories the night before but no explanation for why there would be rumours about him being there in the first place had been offered. Therefore it had been left up to the overactive imagination of the Hogwarts students to explain it all. Most of them reckoned that Hardingly had been there to 'finish what he started' which meant, in their minds, kill Rose, Scor, Al and Caly. They were also lots of rumours and speculation as to how it had all started. Many guessed that he _had_ in fact been there but left quickly just to cause panic and that he'd found another secret passage into the castle, or he was an animagus or he had found a way to apparate into Hogwarts. The second one was the one that was widely believed as that was how Sirius Black had gotten into the castle when quite a lot of their parents had been there.

"When should we go to the Hospital wing?" asked Rose quietly over breakfast.

"How about at lunch?" suggested Al. Rose looked at Caly and Scor who both shrugged.

"Sounds alright to me."

"What about lessons?" asked Caly, looking pointedly at Rose.

"We'll only miss Herbology." said Al. "And Sprout loves Caly enough to forgive us." Caly rolled her eyes but ignored the comment.

"That just means we have to struggle through Charms and Potions." said Scor brightly.

"Since when were those lessons ever a struggle for you?" asked Al.

"Well Potions is getting harder." he said. "I thought it would be like cooking but it's really not." Caly burst out laughing.

"What on _earth_ made you think Potions would be like cooking?"

"Well the fact you have a list of ingredients and a method and then if you follow that you get the end product."

"Scor, out of interest can you actually cook?" Scor looked quite offended by Rose's question.

"Of course I can cook!" he replied, he looked at all their surprised and slightly taken aback faces. "Can't any of you?" they all shook their heads.

"Why would we need to?" asked Al. "Everyone cooks for us."

"But what happens when you leave home?" Scor demanded. "What do you do then?"

"Err." said Al looking at Rose and Caly for support. "I can learn later." Scor simply rolled his eyes at Al and said nothing.

* * *

><p>Charms passed slower than any other lesson had for them. Professor Flitwick was going through the theory of levitating humans which was mind-numbingly boring. Rose took notes with half her usual gusto and Scor didn't even pick up his quill in what was, undoubtedly, his favourite lesson. Al had decided to draw a picture of his brother being crushed by a giant stick figure Caly on a knight on his piece of parchment and Caly had taken to revising her times tables over and over on hers to keep her nerves calm. Flitwick did not notice their lack of attention, he was far more interested in fielding the questions that were being fired at him by members of his own house.<p>

At break they made a silent agreement to not talk about what they were going to do after Potions ended. Instead Scor took to betting with Al about how long it would take for him to blow up his cauldron in the next lessons. As it was Scor lost the bet because Al didn't blow up his cauldron at all, much to everyone's surprise. This was mainly due to the fact that Caly rescued his potion when it was on the brink of covering them all in green goo, it was meant to lilac and runny. Slughorn, however, did not think that Caly had helped Al and insisted that he must have just grown into his grandmother's potion making gene.

None of them were hungry at all when Potions finally ended. Instead they were quite content to fight the crowds all the way up the stairs towards the Hospital Wing. They stopped just outside the double doors, unsure whether Madame Pomfrey would let them search for the clue after everything that had happened yesterday.

"Where should we look?" asked Rose in a whisper.

"The bed where they put Scor last year." said Al instantly. Rose looked at the other two and Caly nodded.

"That would make sense; he mentioned all the other clues in reference to Scor so that would make sense." Scor nodded, his face still pale.

"Let's go for it, quickly." raising a freckled hand, Rose pushed open the door to the Hospital Wing. Glancing around they were rather surprised to see that Madame Pomfrey was not there. Beckoning to the rest of her friends the others came in. Scor led the way towards the second bed from the end on their left. He knelt down and examined the legs of it whilst Rose began to search the headboard, Al checked underneath the mattress and Caly looked in the sheets.

"Got it!" Rose had been running her fingers along the underside of the metal frame that separated the headboard from the main frame. She peeled a piece of paper off and held it up for them to see.

"Good, now let's get out of here fast." they darted out of the hospital wing and stopped a little way down the corridor.

"What's it say?" asked Al, when the four of them had hidden themselves in a small room hidden behind a tapestry. Rose glanced down at it and cleared her throat.

"If you need to seek you will not find but if you know how to find you need only seek." there was a pause in which the four of them considered the words.

"Isn't that a little contradictory?" asked Al eventually.

"No." said Scor. "No I don't think so." Caly nodded in agreement.

"It sounds like if you have to look for something you won't find it but if you know how-or rather _where_- you will."

"So it's hidden but only if you don't know about it?" questioned Rose.

"Sounds like it." said Scor with a shrug. "Just what we needed, though, another riddle."

"And I don't think I'll be much help." said Caly, regretfully. "This is something about Hogwarts and I don't know enough." she shrugged. "I've got all I can out of it, it's up to you guys now."

"Hidden." said Rose quietly under her breath. "Something hidden." she frowned and made a face. "Hogwarts is a castle of secrets," she shrugged. "I don't know."

"Maybe we should ask James." suggested Scor. "If anyone knows about hidden stuff in this place it'll be him. What with his map and all." Al shook his head, a pained expression on his face.

"Must we consult my _brother_, of all people?" Rose shrugged.

"We might not have a choice, I know it's unwise to inflate his head, by the two of us-" she indicated to Scor and herself. "-asking him for help but…" she shrugged.

"Hang on." Al snatched the piece of paper of Rose. He read it over and over. "Seek you won't find but if you can find you can seek." he paraphrased it slightly under his breath, a frown making his two black eyebrows almost join. "I think I've got it!" he said suddenly.

"_What_?" said both Rose and Scor. He ignored the comment and turned to Rose, his emerald eyes alight.

"It's the room, the room from the stories, the Room of _Requirement_."

"Sorry." said Caly, scrunching up her face. "The room of what?"

"It's a room." said Al, turning to her. Scor rolled his eyes. "It's a room that doesn't exist until you need it. You can come across it in your time of need but more than that if you know where it is you can summon, make the room into what you want!" the excitement was plain in his voice and the pieces were beginning to slot together in her mind.

"Of course, if you know how to…summon it you only have to look for it but if you have to look for it you aren't going to look for it."

"Where is it?" asked Scor, his tone also excited.

"Err," he glanced at Rose, a frown on his face. "I don't know."

"It's on the seventh floor, opposite the tapestry of _Barnabas the Barmy_, but Al." she said, turning back to her cousin, a frown on her face. "Didn't mum say that there was a fire in it, a cursed fire."

"Fiendfyre?" asked Scor interestedly. Rose turned on him, her frown deepening.

"How do you know about it?" she demanded. "My mum only let it slip by accident, it's _really_ dark magic." Scor shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Erm," he said, sounding sheepish. "A book." Rose raised an eyebrow at him, whether it was for the evasiveness or because he'd read books about dark magic Caly wasn't sure, then looked back at Al who was looking at Scor with understanding and - maybe - a little bit of pity.

"Anyway, I didn't think it worked."

"No it does!" he said, getting increasingly excited.

"How do you know?" asked Caly.

"Teddy told me." Rose continued to frown. "Well he didn't exactly _tell_ me." Rose frowned deeper. "_Fine_! I overheard him telling James about this magical room which conjured up anything you wanted. Happy?"

"Very." said Rose. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Lessons were nearly about to start and the last thing they wanted to be caught so they took the stairs at a run. Dashing past most of the crowds they hurried along to the seventh floor that was practically deserted. Al led the way, seeming to know exactly where to go despite not knowing where it was before.<p>

Al came to halt all of a sudden in front of a tapestry. Said tapestry depicted a rather hapless looking man who was being clubbed by trolls as he attempted, and failed, to teach the trolls how to dance ballet. He turned to face the blank stretch of wall and stared at it.

"Is that it?" asked Scor, his voice sounding rather under whelmed. Caly had to admit that she, too, had been expecting something a little more than just blank wall.

"Yes." said Al. "It is _it_, I think we just need to ask it." Scor shot Al a weird look.

"Exactly how often _do _you eavesdrop on your brother?" Al shrugged.

"Life can get boring and Teddy and James in a room together is always an interesting thing to listen to, especially as half the time they're planning things against me."

"How do we get in?" she asked in a semi-hushed voice.

"Like this." Al began to pace in front of the wall. His face sunken into a frown.

"It's nice to know he had no life before we came along." said Scor in a mutter to Caly who dissolved into giggles. Rose shot them both a look that questioned their sanities. Al came to a halt and stared, expectantly up at the wall.

"Well…" said Scor, staring at the still blank stretch of wall. "That was-" he didn't get any further with his criticisms because a door began to appear, right out of the wall. Caly felt her jaw freely hang open. Al turned back to the others, a look of triumph written all over his features.

"See." he couldn't but help let the triumphant words slip from between his lips, even though it made him sound incredibly infantile. Scor let out a sigh and made his way over to his best friend. Draping his arm round his shoulders he stared at the wall.

"Well done Al. We never doubted you for a second." he said it in the kind of voice one would use to placate a two year old. Al half-heartedly attempted to shrug him off. Caly came up to stand on the other side of Al, smiling broadly. She took his right hand and Rose took Scor's left.

"Ready?" asked Rose quietly. Caly barely noticed that Scor and Al were now holding hands, she was so consumed with worry about the last time they'd charged head long into something they didn't fully understand.

"No way." muttered Al. "But I'm just like dad, not ready for anything, but taking everything that we get. We're all like that."

"Al, when did you get this deep? Seriously, it's freaking me out." Al laughed at Scor and at that they made a unanimous, unspoken, decision. They ran at the door.

* * *

><p>Caly came to an abrupt halt. The first thing she noticed, when she'd entered the Room of Requirement, was that her left hand was free. Al's hand was no longer in hers! She spun round on the spot. She was alone.<p>

"Al!" she called out and the sound echoed around the ceiling. "Rose! Scor!" she was still alone. Then that fully registered with her. She was _alone_. Completely and utterly _alone_. There was nobody else there. No Hardingly, no… Something that had previously escaped her attention caught her eyes. Whilst she was alone she wasn't the only thing in the room. There was a mirror. A tall mirror that balanced against the wall and was taller than her. She made her way across to it, inspecting the golden frame. Her eyes were captivated by what was written above, not what was reflected as she had no desire to see her own reflection.

_Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.

The words made no sense until she focused her mind on the niggle she had with it. She was sure there was a pattern. Then it hit her. It was a mirror. The words had been mirrored!

_I show not your face but your heart's desire._

Curious beyond belief Caly slowly, and with great caution, lowered her eyes and stared, eyes growing wide, into the mirror.

She recoiled in horror. Stumbling backwards a few paces she stared, eyes wider than they'd ever been, into the mirror. There were two people standing there. Slowly, she glanced around. She was still alone. She looked back into the mirror, her heart rate picking up and butterflies began to erupt inside her stomach. She edged back towards the mirror, her eyes taking in every inch of the two people's appearances.

Neither one was tall. Caly didn't think that either of them stood more than a head above her and both had brown hair. The women had a face covered in freckles but her eyes were the same shape as Caly's. The man, his nose was pointed ever so slightly at the end, just like hers. He also had pale skin, very white. She swallowed hard. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be real but at the same time there was no other explanation for why the woman's hair frizzed at the ends and stuck out of her bun.

"Mum?" she said, a smile slipping onto her and her eyes filling with tears. "Dad?" both figures nodded at her, smiles on their own faces. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. "My hearts desire." she whispered finally, underneath her breath. "To know what you looked like." she forced her mouth shut as she fought the tears but the ends still curved into a small smile.

Her hand was nearly touching the mirror when she recoiled again. Something else bothering her.

"Why did you leave me?" she demanded, her eyes filling with tears. "You promised you were coming back!" the images did nothing but smile at her. "_Stop smiling_!" she screamed, the tears beginning to fall down her face. "You just _abandoned _me! You _promised_! You said it would _months_! I wouldn't even have remembered!" she was crying fully now. All the anger that she had buried and ignored, that she thought she'd come to terms with, was pouring out of her. "You gave you _word_-" she thrust her hand into her pocket and brought out two crumbled pieces of paper. Putting the newer one in her left hand she brandished the older one, that was still in her right hand, at the mirror. "- _literally_. Why did you do that to me? Why did you say you loved me and then _vanish_! It was my _birthday_! Did I even matter to you at all?" she took a deep, shallow, breath, acknowledging -somewhere in the back of her mind - that this was a good idea.

"It was the magic wasn't it? You couldn't cope with me being weird and abnormal so you dumped me! You were _never_ coming back were you? You just gave me false hopes and lies to live on _every day _of my life!" her voice was bitter and she was shouting at two people in a mirror but she didn't care. "You know I don't even know why _this_ is my heart's desire! You _ruined_ my life! Have got _any_ idea what putting me in that home did?" she tore her gaze away for a second, her fury taking over every part of her, even her ability to cry. She was so angry tears weren't enough. "Well of course you don't you're just an image but you've got each other, even a mirror has it up on me, I was _on my own_! I had _no one_ to go to! No one to tell me that it was going to be okay." the tears were back. "That was all I needed; someone to tell me that it was okay to be different. You're dead to me!" she was shocked with herself when the words fell, spitefully, from her mouth.

"I…I." she stuttered to the mirror. "Oh god." she squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm so sorry." she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I just…I lost so much. I was on the point of giving up and then out of the blue I got this note. It told me not to give up." she held up the one in her left hand. "It kept me going and I got beaten up just after I got that note, I don't even know who gave it to me. I think it was one of the people that I didn't know. One of the people who held me whilst I was unconscious. They just vanished, police tried to track them down but nothing. You see that's the thing I don't understand. I get that you're my parents and I do want to see you but at the same time, I'm not even sure that I love you, you sort of destroyed my conception of love. I don't think I could ever tell someone that I loved them, or accept that they loved me because you loved me and you made a promise and you broke it and you left me. I don't really like the idea of that. I'd stick with being friends and caring for people. I don't want that to happen ever again. So, I don't think I love you, not anymore, and therefore the thing I would instantly want to change is that day in the park. I'd have not done it. I wouldn't have suppressed it. It could save me from _a lot_ of pain and then I might even meet those people, or person, that cared. That's what I want, that's what I _really_…"

She trailed off, her eyes going wide. Edging even closer to the mirror, so that her nose almost - just nearly - touched the mirror, she blinked. She had thought she'd seen, just for a second, that she'd seen the park. She blinked furiously. Frowning she blinked as it flashed in the background again. Was it an optical illusion? She curiously reached out a hand and let her middle finger touch the mirror.

There was one moment in which her finger touched the cold glass. Then it went right through. There wasn't a gap and it hadn't turned to liquid. It was just like she was able to slide through. She tried to pull it back but something was sucking her through. Her arm was through up to her elbow and she couldn't see it _in_ the mirror. Deciding there was no point fighting it and she wasn't about to die as she _could_ still _feel_ her arm. Sucking in a deep breath she walked straight through the mirror.

It was completely dark. Caly couldn't see anything. She felt around her and felt smooth walls on three sides, including the one from where she'd come from. She breathed very deeply and tried to think. There wasn't a wall in front of her which meant that there was somewhere to go. She felt uneasy going on into the unknown. She'd just taken a step when she heard a yell. Spinning around she could still only see darkness.

"Hello?" she called. "Scor?"

"Caly?"

"Al!" she moved forward and promptly fell over his legs. Tangled together they laughed slightly. In the end Al managed to push Caly off him and the leant against the wall that should have been glass, giggling.

"Can you see anything?" asked Al, after a little while.

"Nope." there was a long pause. "What happened to you?" Al turned his head to the direction in which he knew Caly was.

"I dunno, I was looking in the mirror and then, suddenly, the room tipped and I fell in. What about you?"

"I touched it."

"Really?" there was a note a surprise in his voice.

"I thought I'd seen something."

"What?" she could hear the frown in Al's voice. Caly sighed.

"I don't know…I was probably just imagining it because I was thinking about it."

"That doesn't really answer my question." there was a pause before Caly sighed again.

"I thought I saw the park in which I got beaten up."

"Beaten up?" there was a lot of shock in Al's voice.

"I had some people that didn't like who I was." she let the silence hang over her for a while before continuing to talk. "Remember when me and Scor argued?"

"Don't think I could ever forget." Caly snorted.

"Well, remember I told you that I'd 'flashed'."

"Yeah."

"Well I meant that I went back to that day. I don't have many memories, it's all pretty fragmented. I got knocked on the head pretty bad." she sighed. "It was the day I'd properly, successfully, suppressed my magic…and it nearly killed me." Al felt around in the air and eventually found Caly's shoulder. He squeezed it.

"It's going to be okay."

"How? We're trapped inside a mirror, this is _just_ like last year." she ran a hand over her face.

"Well, Rose and Scor are still out there. I mean, they're not _in here_, maybe they can get us out?" Caly turned to Al, a frown on her face.

"So we were all alone, four rooms."

"It does do whatever you want it to, someone obviously planned this in advance."

"This is hopeless."

"_No it's not_! There's always a way, it was hopeless last year but you made it. You and James you did it!" he shook her arm vigorously. "There has to be something, I am so out of ideas. I used up all my brain power to get us into this mess." Caly laughed quietly.

"Okay, let's go with your insufferable optimism for now."

"That's the spirit." he said, punching her in the shoulder.

"Okay there isn't a wall in front of us. I think it leads us somewhere, but we can't see a thing," she sunk her head into her hands. She stared at her wrists which she couldn't even see. The longer she looked at her invisible wrists the more an idea came into her head. "Fawkes." she whispered. "Fawkes can you help us?" there was a moment in which nothing happened and she felt her heart sink even further and then…she could see! It was like there were torches blazing behind her eyes.

"AL!" she yelled out, grabbing his wrist.

"What?…Woah!" he blinked. "I can see!" the two of them leapt to their feet and when they broke apart for a second Al let out a cry but when Caly threw her arms around him, laughing, his vision returned.

"This brilliant!" said Caly. She could see all the way to the end of the corridor.

"This is weird." corrected Al. "I think that I can only see when I'm touching you." he let go of her and then reached out and grabbed her forearm. "Yep." Caly took his hand very tightly.

"Don't let go."

"Wouldn't dream of it." the two of them began to walk. The passage only seemed to be just big enough for two people and their shoulders scraped against the walls.

"Now do you feel like making fun of my holding Scor's hand?" asked Caly, teasingly, when they walked for a while. Al pouted.

"No."

The two of them walked in silence for, at least, ten minutes longer. The passage stretching on never endingly. Both were thinking the same thoughts but neither one were prepared to breach the others' privacy and peace. Also, neither one was prepared to speculate as to what would be at the end of the tunnel. There was a prominent feel of fear in the air and neither one wanted to add further weight to that by voicing the worse case scenarios that flooded their minds. All the possibilities of what might be to come. Of why this was al happening.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Caly closed her eyes briefly, knowing what it was going to be.

"We're best friends." she said eventually. "Of course you can."

"You know you say you thought you saw the park in the background."

"Mmhmm."

"How is that possible? I mean, shouldn't you be only able to see one thing?" Caly shrugged.

"I dunno, it was weird. I told the mirror that the thing I wanted to change was that day and then I saw it."

"Can I ask…"

"I saw my parents." there was a pause.

"Oh. Do you want to know what I saw?" Caly shrug.

"Only if you want to tell me."

"I saw me." Al swallowed. "Just me, well not just me that was sort of the point, it was me in a crowd. All these people were around me and no one was staring, no one was pointing, no one was even _looking_ at me." he sighed. "It looked wonderful." Caly smiled.

"It's like you said; we want to blend in, they want to stand out." Both of them came to a stop, they turned slowly and stared at each other.

"You don't think that…" questioned Al. Caly shrugged.

"It's possible isn't it? Me and you are together and Scor and Rose together. They want to stand out, what if they're together? Our hearts' desire." Al blinked.

"Weird, but makes sense." they stood there, in the tunnel, staring at each other for a while longer. "Should we keep walking?" asked Al, eventually.

"We don't have anything else to do."

Their walk resumed. It must have been 25 minutes until Caly saw something in the distance. She prodded Al.

"Is that light?" she questioned. "Actual proper light?" Al blinked.

"Yes!" he said. "Yes it is! I told you there was a way out!" Caly smiled widely at the look of joy on Al's face. The two of them broke into a run. Their hands swinging between them as they sprinted, as fast as they could, towards the growing rectangle of light.

* * *

><p>Suddenly their entire world went bright, brilliant, blinding, white and they fell, with thump onto something soft. Caly let out a small groan and rolled over. Al, probably because of all the training he'd gotten from Maise, didn't seem at all deterred by the fall and got to his feet, surveying their surroundings with complete and utter confusion.<p>

"Caly." he said, bending down to help her up. "Caly we're in a park." Caly spun around and felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

"No _way_." she said, taking a step back, away from the scene before her. "No way." Al, on the other hand, was edging closer.

"Is that _you_?" he questioned. He was staring at a small girl with loose brown hair hanging over her face, she sitting on one of the swings in the playground. She pushed herself back and forwards gently, staring at the ground, Caly and Al were on the other side of the small metal fence that separated the playground from the grassy area. Caly came to stand next to him, her hands resting on the top of the fence.

"Yes." she whispered. "That's me."

"I…I.." Al stuttered, unable to form words as he stared at the seven year old form of his best friend. "What the hell is going on?" he asked eventually. Caly shook her head.

"I have _no_ idea."

They sat down so that their backs rested against the metal fence. Staring out into the park they watched as boy with shaggy hair bounced a football up off his knee. Two small girls held a skipping rope between them whilst a third jumped in the middle. Their mouths moved as the chanted but they were too far away for Caly or Al to hear. A group of older boys were playing a game of football in the mud and Caly squinted at them.

"Hang on." she said. "I know who they are." Al stared at the group of boys.

"Well that's not so surprising, it's like we've fallen into your memory."

"Yeah." said Caly, shaking her head. "But it's _weird_. I mean, I haven't seen those guys in years. One of them gets stabbed, by accident…well mistake, but still he _dies_."

"Why?" Caly shrugged.

"Wrong place, wrong time, looked like some other guy. It was on the news. This was not long after he'd left, in three years. Do you think I should go over and tell him?"

"Are you _crazy_?" exclaimed Al. "You can't wonder over there and tell someone that they're going to be stabbed in three years' time. For one they're not going to believe you and secondly you can't change the past. Besides, if this _is_ a memory then they won't be able to hear us. I don't think we'll be able to interfere." the words had barely left his mouth when the ball that the boys were playing got over kicked and bounced along to come to a rest at Al's feet.

"Oi four-eyes! Give that back!" Al didn't move, assuming that they were talking to someone else. "Oi! You blind as well as deaf?"

"Wait," said Al, turning to Caly. "Are they talking to me?" Caly nodded.

"The ball's at your feet and you're the only person in sight wearing glasses." Al looked shocked.

"But they _shouldn't_ be able to see me." one boy had come over and Caly felt herself go pale.

"Look buddy, you gunna give us the ball, or are we going to have to make you?"

"No, no, it's okay." Al snatched up the ball. "Here."

"Be careful." blurted out Caly suddenly. "Don't hang around near tube stations after dark." he gave her a look that clearly told her not to tell him what to do.

"You can't tell me what to do. You're nobody, why you even talking to me?" Caly opened her mouth to answer when the boy's friends called him back, wanting to restart the game. He ran off and Al looked down at her, shock and horror written over his face.

"We _need_ to be careful." he said in low voice. "If we meddle we could change the future." Caly, however, wasn't listening.

"I can change it." she said, excitement building inside of her voice. "I can stop it from happening."

"_No_!" cried Al. He knelt down before her, grabbing her face so that she looked right into his eyes. "Caly you can't change the past, if you do we might not ever meet. You could _die_. Think about what might have happened in Dungeon Six if you hadn't been friends with us."

"But Scor's mum, she might still be _alive_."

"You _can't_ know that, if you change this you might end up killing other people." Their fierce argument was broken when they heard a scream from the playground. Al's head jerked up and Caly closed her eyes, knowing what was happening. Al's mouth fell open and he lost any colour that he had as he saw two boys, not much older than Caly beating her up. Al was frozen, torn between not interfering and attacking the two boys that were _killing_ her best friends. Suddenly, he watched in almost slow motion, Caly fell off the swing, her head smashed against the ground and she didn't move. The boys dashed off and other people began to run towards her. The next ten minutes happened in a sort of horrible slow motion. The ambulance arrived and she was taken away and all that time neither of them moved. Caly shook and Al gripped her shoulders tighter than was necessary.

* * *

><p>The world went white. The two of them were thrown up into the air. They stayed suspended for a couple of seconds before they came crashing back down onto the grass with a thump. Caly looked up and saw that Al was already on his feet, looking around like an alert meerkat. He helped her up and they turned around and were shocked to see Caly sitting there, swinging back and forth, staring at the ground.<p>

"What the hell?" muttered Al. He turned back around and the two of them saw that the shaggy haired boy was bouncing his football up and down, the girls were still playing and the football game was happening the far away.

"It's the same time." said Caly. "Same moment, over again."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Al.

"This had better not be about food." muttered Caly. Al laughed very loudly and sat back down onto the grass, where they had been before and Caly joined him.

"No, I think we've gone back in time." Caly looked at him and for some reason that didn't sound ridiculous or stupid. It sounded…logical. She nodded.

"Makes sense. I mean, we can be seen, we can interact so it _can't_ be a memory can it? Besides all the stuff that happened I got knocked off the swing I only remember disjointedly. I didn't see all of what we just did so it can't be me remembering it." Al frowned and ran a hand over his face.

"I don't understand. I _just _don't understand. _How_ did this happen?"

"It has to be Hardingly." said Caly. "No other explanation, he must have planned this."

"Yeah, but what does he want?" Caly shrugged.

"Revenge, though I don't really understand how _this _achieves that."

"Maybe, it's about trapping you in with your worst memory forever." Caly looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Forever?" she questioned. Al shrugged.

"Well, that's probably his intention but we'll get out." Caly smiled.

"Just checking."

"Oi four eyes! Give that back!" Al and Caly looked away from each other and noticed the ball at Al's feet. Al now looked suddenly nervous at the prospect of picking it up. "Oi you blind as well as deaf?" Al stared at the ball like it was a time bomb as the other boy approached.

"Look buddy, you gunna give us the ball, or are we going to have to make you?"

"No, no, it's okay." Al snatched up the ball. "Here." even though they knew his reaction Caly couldn't help but repeat her warning.

This time, when the young Caly screamed, the two of them stood there, not willing to mess with the past. Though Caly did look like she was fighting a strong urge to throw up on the grass as she watched herself bleed out.

"I can't do this for much longer." she gasped as the two of them got back onto their feet after being thrown back up into the air.

"What actually happens? I mean, what can you remember?" Caly shrugged as they sat down.

"It's all a bit bitty but I met them and they told me that they had me right where they wanted me and then they beat me up. Then they were panicking about killing me and then…" she trailed off gazing at Al with a strange expression.

"One of them said that 'those kids that aren't from round here can keep an eye on her'!" she stared at Al very intensely but Al didn't get it.

"And?"

"_We're _not from round here!"

"So, we look after you?"

"We must."

"And what else happened today?" Caly bit her lip, thinking.

"Well I got the note, that hasn't happened yet. I haven't seen that."

"Let me see the note." Caly was just about to give it to him when the ball bounced to their feet. They repeated their conversation and then Caly handed him the note. Al took it, a curious expression on his face.

_Don't give up. You'll make it. Just keep going and soon you'll have friends. Believe. _

"Al?" Al had frozen, the paper stretched between his hands.

"Caly, this is _parchment_." Caly grabbed it and felt it, unable to believe that - after all these years - she had missed that. "_And_ this is _my_ handwriting!"

"What?" exclaimed Caly, snatching it back. "No it's not. Your handwriting is all loopy, like Scor's but bigger and messier."

"Okay, this is my _old_ handwriting." he said. They both looked at the messy scrawl that was barely legible and all spiky. "The handwriting that I had before I met Scor and copied his."

"So _you_ gave me this note!"

"I must have!" they both stared at each other for a second.

"This is a paradox." said Caly after a little while. "You only know to write this because I have it to show to you." Al blinked rapidly.

"I do not understand that concept."

"It's basically that one thing cannot happen without another thing but that thing was caused by the first thing." Al blinked again.

"Nope, still lost." Caly shook her head.

"It's not important. The thing that matters is that you _have_ to give me another version of this note."

"When?"

"I think this thing is on loop, when it comes round again you need to just drop it onto my lap." Al nodded.

"Okay. Do you think that we'll be able to get out, after we do this? Do you think that's what was keeping us in here?" Caly shrugged.

"There's no way of knowing."

When they both climbed back to their feet and had sat back down against the fence Al felt into his pockets and found a scrap of paper, the right side and a quill.

"Do you have ink?" he asked her. Caly felt into her pocket and pulled out an empty ink bottle.

"Just this, I was going to throw it away." Al took it with a sigh and opened it. He dipped his quill into each tiny little droplet. Then he scrawled, in his old handwriting, the words on Caly's version of the note."This is beginning to make more sense. You wrote it in your old handwriting, which you knew I wouldn't recognise, so that I wouldn't recognise it so that all this could happen this way."

"Yeah, something like that." the ball rolled to them and after they'd given the ball and the warning to him, they got to their feet. Al and Caly walked through the gate and, whilst Caly sat casually on the roundabout, Al walked past the seven year old Caly and dropped the note on her lap. He'd made it all the way back to Caly so that his back was turned to her and blocking Caly from her own sight.

They sat with their jaws clenched as Caly was hurt. The moment the boys had left they hurried over and held her.

"It's going to be okay." Caly told her dazed and confused self.

"Yeah, you're going to be fine." agreed Al. "You're going to do brilliantly in school and you're going to make lots of friends and you're going to be amazing." Caly smiled at Al as he babbled, contentedly, to her limp form.

The ambulance team arrived and Al and Caly walked away. Al had an arm around her, knowing that she was going to be fine. They kept walking and walking until the whole world around them went white. They flew up, once more, into the air and they crashed into the floor and this time it was hard.

"Oh god!" groaned Caly. "I'm bruised all over."

"Caly." Al was on his feet. "You should really see where we are." Caly rolled over and let out a cry of triumph. They were back! They were back in the room of requirement. She leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Al. The Mirror of Erised stood before them, reflecting nothing but the room.

"I can't believe it!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe it was _you_! All this time! I bloody love you!" Al laughed and hugged her again.

"Don't let Slughorn hear you saying that, it'll break his heart!" Caly laughed, nearly hysterically, and sat down on the floor, ruffling her hair so that it became as messy as Al's.

"Wow. I can't believe this. I just, wow."

"Where do you think Rose and Scor are?" Caly shrugged.

"I bet you anything, though, that they're inside Scor's mirror." Al nodded.

"Yeah, that would make sense. He'd want to see his mum _and_ save Rachel." Alice's head shot upwards.

"_What_?" Al looked at her, mildly surprised.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention it to you, Scor told me everything last night."

"And you're okay with everything?"

"He's my best friend, he's not perfect but no one is. He _tried_ and Hagrid's right. He's really, truly, _sorry_. Besides it's only his fault _indirectly_." Caly smiled.

"He must feel _loads_ better now."

"Yeah, and if him and Rose are together it's not like she can storm off and scream, too much."

"I dunno, if they went back in time then it's theoretically possible for them to just walk out." Al blinked.

"Whatever, the question is, what do we do now?" Caly frowned then glanced around.

"Can the room change whilst we're in it?" Al shrugged.

"I think so."

"Then let's try it." she stood up and grabbed Al's hand, afraid that they might get separated again. Closing her eyes she said

_I want the mirror Rose and Scor fell through. I want the mirror Rose and Scor fell through. I want the mirror Scor and Rose fell through._

"Caly." she heard Al's voice. "I think you should open your eyes." Caly obeyed his suggestion and looked round. The room of requirement looked exactly the same as the one that they'd left but this time there was a reflection in the mirror. It showed a grey looking street with terraced houses on either side.

"This can't be the real mirror." said Caly.

"What makes you say that?" questioned Al, frowning and gazing into the background.

"Because, whilst I want to be there, it's not my heart's desire." Al nodded.

"So it's a fake?" Caly shrugged.

"I guess."

"Were they all fakes?" Caly gave him a funny look.

"You know I don't have _all_ the answers." Al laughed.

"Of course, I do! You just generally have _most_ of them." Caly smiled at him.

"Liar." the two of them looked at each other for a bit longer before running at the mirror. There was a moment, it lasted for maybe a second or two, when it felt like they'd hit something solid, like they'd run straight _into _the mirror. Then they slid straight through.

"Well that was scary." said Al as they once more stood in the darkness. "I thought we'd crashed into it for a second." Caly nodded, swallowing the lump of fear that had grown in her throat.

"We're in darkness again." she stated, unhelpfully.

"No _way_!" said Al. "I _totally_ hadn't noticed." Caly sent him a scathing look in the darkness.

"You've spent _way_ to much time with Scor." Al shrugged.

"Can't help who my best mate is. Now do the funny phoenix thing." Caly closed her eyes, again, and asked for Fawkes to help her. Opening her eyes she waited a second before the lights came back and Al let out a cry of triumph. Squeezing each others hands they began to run off, straight down the dark passage.

They'd been jogging for 30 minutes till they glimpsed a tiny speck of light. They began to run towards it. They were going at full speed and they were almost through into the street when Al tripped over his own feet. Their hands were ripped from each others'. Caly ran into the light and it wasn't until the whole world began to go white did she notice Al's hand was, once more, absent.

* * *

><p>"AL!" she screamed as she fell through the air and landed, in excruciating pain, on her hands and knees on tarmac road. She struggled to her feet, her wrists in agony, looking around in panic.<p>

"Caly?" Rose and Scor were standing nearby. Rose seemed to be forcibly restraining Scor but her grip was slackening slightly as she gaped at her friend who had just appeared from nowhere.

"Where's Al?" demanded Scor as he ran, away from the scene before them and over to her.

"He…" she gasped. "He fell over..I let go of his hand."

"He'll be okay." said Scor. "All he needs is to walk forward." Caly nodded, rotating her wrists looking scared. They were silent for a moment before there was a cry and everything went white before them. Shielding their eyes from the blinding light they heard someone let out a scream. Looking back, when the light had dissipated, they saw Al lying on the floor, clutching his leg.

"AL!" the three of them ran over to him as he lay, gripping his leg as tightly as he could.

"Al you okay?" asked Rose, rolling him to face them.

"I'm in _freakin'_ agony!" he exclaimed.

"Up you get." said Scor, hauling him to his feet. "What you done to yourself?" he asked, looking up and down.

"I think I damaged my knee, smashed it into the ground, twice, _hard." _

"Aww, poor baby Ally." said Scor in a fake baby voice.

"Well at least you're coping." said Caly and Scor's face fell.

"Not really. I've had to watch it over and over. Rose won't let me interfere."

"You _can't_." said Rose. "We could mess up our own time lines."

"That's what I said." piped up Al.

"Al." said Caly, taking a look at all the seven year olds at the end of the streets. "Look after Scor, don't let him do anything stupid. Rose I need to talk to you." she grabbed Rose by the arm and dragged her a little way down the street.

"What is it?" asked Rose, confused and frowning.

"Are you okay?"

"What?" demanded Rose. "Is this really the time to be asking about my health or state of mind?"

"Yeah, I reckon so." Rose chewed her lip.

"I don't know." she shook her head. "I guess, I'm so focused on the situation, stopping Scor screwing up our lives, that I haven't really dwelled on it."

"Do you understand why I kept it secret though? Why we had to talk? It's not something you can be told by anyone else, it's something he had to say." Rose nodded.

"Yeah I get that, is it true Al knows?" Caly, biting on her lip, nodded.

"Yeah, he told him last night because of all this. I mean, we were all thinking we might die or something. We all thought something terrible as going to happen." Rose nodded.

"Yeah, doesn't make it easier, though." she looked bitter. "I don't understand." she said, eventually, tears welling in her eyes. "Why didn't he trust me?" Caly smiled sympathetically.

"He does trust you but at the same time he's scared, Rose, he's really scared." Caly reached out and took her wrist. "He just didn't want to lose _anyone_ else. Rose, we're the only family he's got now." she shrugged. "He's terrified, his dad messed him around so badly when he was younger and it's _so_ hard to get through to him sometimes. He just…we're _very_ lucky to have _him_."

"You think that?"

"I know that. You've seen what happens here and you've seen Bletchly, think what Scor _could_ have been." then a frown sunk onto her face. "Something's…" Caly didn't finish her sentence because the world went white and they flew up into the air, again.

"You were saying something?" Caly shook her head.

"I don't know, I think - I know - I have to see this first." She walked past Rose to where Al had Scor in a near headlock as he fought to get to his past self. When Rose and Caly returned, Rose took hold of Scor's other arm and Al let out a sigh.

"Thank Merlin." he gasped. "This is _awful_." he panted. Turning his head slightly to Caly he asked. "What do we need to do to leave?" Caly didn't answer. She was busy staring at the scene before her, watching it unfurl with her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed.

"Caly!" Rose waved her free hand up and down in front of her face and even Scor stopped struggling to look at his friend in concern.

There was a long silence in which Scor continued his half-hearted struggle, too concerned about Caly to put up a full fight, and Al and Rose held him back, trying to pretend that the scene wasn't happening. Their faces were scrunched up and Rose looked like she was about to be sick.

When the world had reappeared in front of them Caly turned to the others, looking grave yet slightly triumphant.

"I know how to get home." Al nearly let go of Scor in shock. "And Scor, I think you know too. I think you've known all along." Scor bowed his head in admission.

"I can't."

"What's going on?" interrupted Al. "What do we need?" Caly turned to Rose, her face still sombre, and swallowed. However she didn't speak, it was Scor instead.

"Rose, I know that you think that I don't trust you but I do. I really do." he swallowed deeply and shook his arm free of Al's. Closing his eyes he seemed to compose himself for a second. "There's something missing from the scene." Al frowned and then his face brightened.

"Of course! Why didn't I see it before?"

"What?" demanded Rose, sounding more annoyed.

"Conscience." was all Scor muttered. His face looked sour. "Both me and Sher- Bletchly, heard voices - a voice. A girls voice. We thought it was just our minds, Bletchly never thought about it again but I heard it over and over. It made me doubt. The more I thought about it the more I realised I was wrong. The more I regretted it. The more I regretted it the more I made a resolution to change." he hung his head, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain it to Rose.

"You think it's _me_?" she sounded incredulous and, possibly, flattered. Scor nodded. "But what makes you think that it's me? What about Caly?" Scor shook his head.

"It wasn't her. I know what your voices sound like and it wasn't her, it was you."

"How long have you known this?"

"All year." he said, his beginning to choke as he became tearful. "I just… when it all came back and I really thought about it, I knew it was you. I didn't tell anybody, not even Caly, what I thought." he swallowed hard, trying to stop the tears building up in his eyes or rendering him incapable of speech. "I didn't want to tell you the most because if you hated me then I might never be with you guys."

"Are you saying that you were _expecting_ this?" Rose really sounded disbelieving now.

"No, not really…I don't know! I just…maybe, but not like this. Not now."

"See." said Caly. "He does trust you." Rose swallowed and Al shifted on his feet, making sure to stay between Scor and his past self. After closing her eyes once she turned to Scor.

"Are you sure?" Scor's eyes filled with tears.

"No, but if I don't tell you now I'll lose my nerve and we'll either be trapped here forever or we'll screw with the future." Rose nodded and Scor beckoned her closer and began to talk.

The world was back before their eyes and Scor looked at Rose with an expression that seemed too understated in the situation. Al's hand was gripping his arm very tightly and the look of pain on his face for what was about to happen. Caly didn't know where to look, at the bleak scene before her or at her best friend's blanched face.

Six children ran down a bleak street. The sky was cloudy and the houses were tall and made of grey brick. The rooms were dark and the doors were closed. The street was empty, no cars, no pedestrians, nothing. The three boys and three girls had a tatty Quaffle and were chucking it between them.

"Hey Scorpius!" one of the doors opened and a girl the same age with long hair that was a dirty blonde colour, tied back into two plaits. The younger versions of their Slytherin tormentors all turned to the small pale, white blonde boy.

"Rachel." his voice was very small.

"Scorpius." it was Monica Vaisy , she was at the forefront at the little group of Slytherins that had moved away from him and Sheridan was hovering between them. "Are you friends with a _muggle_?"

"Muggle?" Rachel was edging closer to the two boys. "Scorpius? Sheridan?" all eyes fell onto Bletchly and he shifted from foot to foot.

"Sheridan? _You_ know that _too_?" the tattered Quaffle fell from between his fingers and rolled away, back the way they'd came.

"N-no." he stuttered. "I mean…" he glanced worriedly between Scorpius and Rachel. "I just…"

"We don't really…" Scorpius, too, looked torn between his friend and friend_s_.

"What have I done? What _am_ I?" Rachel's eyes were filled with tears.

"Nothing!" said Scorpius hastily, taking a step towards her. Monica cleared her throat.

"She's got no magic! She's nothing!" Scorpius turned back, his grey eyes wide.

"Yes." he murmured, taking a step back towards the Slytherins. Sheridan stayed resolutely in the middle, trying to not take a side.

"How do you know _this_?"

"Her garden backs onto mine." muttered Sheridan. "Scorpius spends a lot of time there. We've seen her in her garden. We've talked." the silence that was hanging over them was very tense for a group of seven year olds.

"You know her, well."

"Partially."

* * *

><p>"Rose." Scorpius reached out to put pressure between her shoulder blades. "You need to go now."<p>

"I'm so sorry." she whispered. "I'm sorry that I got angry about this." Scor pulled a face.

"Later." he said hoarsely. "Just…save our lives now." Rose nodded. Scorpius pushed her again in the back and Rose began to walk off. She turned back, again.

"What happens if I mess up?" Scor was immobile so Al shrugged.

"You won't."

"How do you know?" Al looked between his two other friends with a small smile.

"Because we're here."

* * *

><p>"Magic is might!" exclaimed Andrea. "We all know that! That's what our grandparents are in jail for! That's why we're persecuted <em>every day<em>! Just because we're brave enough to admit that, to accept it!"

"Andrea's right," said Natalie. "We all know that our grandparents, and parents, are martyrs for our cause."

"What cause?" questioned Sheridan. "The cause to alienate us from the rest of society?"

"No!" Timothy sounded incredibly patient, like this was the simplest concept in the world. "So that people like us; talented people, _special_ people, don't have to hide away. So that we can walk freely everywhere without people punishing us." Scorpius and Sheridan shared a look. Their confusion was plain. They were torn between someone that was genuinely kind to them or the people that they were going to be with for the rest of their lives, as was general consensus.

"This is stupid." muttered Scorpius. "We shouldn't have to choose."

"Yes you _do_! You can't have a muggle friend. Muggles are _worthless_." Scorpius looked between Sheridan and Rachel and his friends.

"Hang on." Timothy's voice was sly, suddenly. "She knows about the magical world." there was a silence in which Scorpius could feel his legs wobble. _Oh no_. Suddenly the penny dropped.

"You're traitors."

"And _that's_ dangerous." simultaneously Scorpius and Sheridan took several steps backwards, almost colliding with a set of green wheely bins.

"What do we do?"

"Nothing." Scorpius' protest to Natalie's words was weak.

"You've let our secret out to the muggle world! We should silence you now."

"Unless?" Sheridan's voice was just stronger than Scorpius', he knew that there was a way out and, unlike Scorpius, he had a very good idea what it was.

"Well it's only a problem is _that_ can still tell everyone." if Sheridan hadn't steadied Scorpius, he would have fallen to the floor in shock. Rachel was backing away, face pale under the dirt. Timothy dashed round instantly, blocking off her exit. The circle that they formed, tightly, around Rachel excluded Scorpius and Sheridan. Scorpius' grey eyes that were filled with fear met Sheridan's brown ones. He looked completely unemotional. He didn't look scared or worried or even assertive, he just looked…blank. His face was like Scorpius' father's, a perfect stone of a face. Smooth and hard. Scorpius knew that he had a plan.

* * *

><p>Rose was scared beyond anything in her life as she snuck from bin to bin along one side of the road. Last year had been scaring, facing the unknown and the knowledge that Scor's mum's life rested in their hands but this, this took things to a whole new level. If Rose got it wrong she would destroy their lives. Who knew what might happen if this didn't happen. Scorpius could be in Slytherin and Caly could be anywhere. Caly would, likely, be dead. The only thing that warmed her heart and gave her hope was Al's words. She'd done this before. That meant it had to turn out alright, right? She was lucky that they were so busy with their conversation that they weren't paying attention to her stalking along the by the bins. The main reason they hadn't been noticed before was that, despite being in plain sight, the past people were busy and hadn't bothered looking up. That and the cars helped too.<p>

* * *

><p>"Scorpius." the voice came from somewhere. He turned around and saw nobody. "Sheridan." Sheridan looked around too and his eyes met with Scorpius', both of them acknowledging that they'd heard the voice. "Don't do it."<p>

"Can you hear that?" Sheridan nodded.

"Please, you'll regret it. Don't let them do it. Scorpius, Sheridan, please. They're wrong. Magic isn't Might, that's just an old slogan from a war you lost. You're stronger than they are, you have to fight for what's right. You lost that war because you believed that. It's wrong, all of it, please. Believing that is wrong, you know it, both of you. You know that it's a lie, you have to act on it and if you don't you'll regret it. Please, Sheridan. Please, Scorpius. Please."

"Where is that coming from?" Sheridan looked scared again.

"How do they know our names?" Rose pursed her lips, knowing what was coming next.

The scream jolted both boys and they ran back to their friends. Breaking into the circle they look at Rachel she was curled onto the floor, clutching her mouth. Blood was spilling onto the tarmac and she was choking, spiting a mixture of blood and spit onto the pavement.

"What did you do?" Sheridan looked horrified but Scorpius was the one that spoke.

"Magic." said Monica with a shrug. "I've got quite some control over it. I wanted to stop her from talking…"

"What did you do to her tongue?" he re-demanded.

"I tore it, I think." Timothy kicked her.

"Muggles are pathetic."

"Well you have your tongue ripped off and see how you feel." Scorpius was grabbed by the front of his jumper and thrown to the floor.

"You're with us, up here." he indicated to the circle. "Or down there with the muggles and scum. You too." Sheridan didn't hesitate.

"I'm with you, I made a mistake. Muggles are weak." Scorpius looked up at him, eyes wide, and he shrugged. Scorpius understood, he was doing what was necessary to survive. Rachel looked up, her eyes huge and still choking. Scorpius swallowed.

"Me too." Sheridan and Monica helped him up and Rachel let out a sob in despair.

"Let's try some more magic." said Timothy. Sheridan looked between his friends before screwing up his face, trying to summon as much anger towards muggles as he could. Another scream was let out and Sheridan's eyes flew open. One of her eyes was bloody, there was blood pouring down her face and her eyelid was jammed shut. All eyes fell onto Scorpius and he gave her one, long, look before summoning as much hate as he could, not towards Rachel but himself and his father. There was no scream this time but the choking, guttural, sound made him open his eyes. Rachel, after several wretches, choked up her own tongue. Sheridan's face contorted, like he was trying not to be sick, and Scorpius looked away, blinking away tears.

* * *

><p>Rose stared in horror at the scene and Scorpius buried his head in Al's shoulder. Al put both his arms around him and Caly laid her cheek against his neck and her hands locked with Al's. They stood like that until Rachel lay still and then the whiteness returned and they fell through the air until they crashed, still connected, onto something unbearably hard.<p>

* * *

><p>Al was the first to raise his head off the ground. Looking round he saw the Mirror of Erised. He still had his hand interlinked with Caly's and his arm was still round Scor. Lying near the mirror he saw Rose, she looked up and her eyes met his and they both broke into grins. Letting go of his other two friends he ran across to his cousin. Throwing his arms around her he let out a laugh. Both Caly and Scor looked up, pushing themselves up they grinned at each other. Scor let out a shuddering breath and Caly pulled him into his arms. She ran a hand up and down the back of his neck as he sobbed. Rose and Al got back up and they joined the hug.<p>

"I told you." said Al, after Scor had calmed down, "I told you we'd get out." Rose smacked him round the back of the head.

"I know you don't get many chances to gloat but now isn't the best time to start." Scor let out a weak chuckle.

"Oh I don't know, I think everyone needs an Al. Someone with the IQ of a child to make you laugh and feel better about yourself."

"I can't decide whether or not to take that as an insult or a compliment."

"Take it as a compliment, it's easier." Caly got to her feet and rubbed her hands on her robs.

"Come on, let's go and tell McGonagall. We need to make sure that no one else comes in here." Rose nodded and her and Al pulled Scor to his feet.

The corridor was strangely quiet as they made their way down towards McGonagall's office. There was no one walking through, hurrying to make it to their lessons on time.

"We weren't in there that long, were we?" Caly shrugged at Al's question and Rose examined her watch.

"I think we've been gone for at least a couple of hours. I think its dinner time."

"Well at least we know where McGonagall is." said Al optimistically. "We can go talk to her now."

"Brilliant." said Scor in a voice that was riddled with fake enthusiasm.

"You did the right thing." said Caly gently. "You made the right choice." Scor nodded but swallowed anyway, forcing a glaringly fake smile onto his face. The other three exchanged a look but didn't press it at the current time, deciding that leaving Scor be right now was what he really needed.

The corridors were empty of all but the portraits and they noticed that they were gathering quite a bit of attention from them. Several occupants had looked up at them and then dropped what they were holding or fallen off their chairs. Several had shouted that it was a miracle and that they were blessed. They were doing their best to ignore it but the further they walked down the school the more they realised that something had happened whilst they'd been in the mirror.

"Is anyone else getting a little worried?" they were at the top of the marble staircase and Al's face was scrunched up into a frown. His green eyes worried behind his dirty glasses. He took them off and cleaned them on his robes whilst the other three looked between them.

"Maybe it's a bit later than dinner time." suggested Rose tentatively. "Maybe we've been gone for a day or two." Scor raised his eyebrows.

"Oh Merlin." he whispered. "What is wrong with us?"

"Our parents." suggested Al and Caly fidgeted slightly.

"Well." she said in falsely cheerful voice. "Let's nose dive into calamity."

"And I thought we'd just left that behind." Al and Rose snorted at Caly and Scor and they took the stairs at a run. They burst through the doors, possibly overly dramatically and looked into the black-draped hall.

* * *

><p>There was complete silence. All the eyes in the hall fell onto the four friends who stood in the doorway looking in at what was, evidently, the end of term feast. Suddenly there was a clatter and all eyes turned to fix on McGonagall who had dropped her goblet in shock.<p>

"How?" she gasped. "How are you..?" the friends weren't interested in her speechlessness. They were more focused on looking around the hall at the ominously black drapes.

"That's not what I think it is, is it?" nobody answered Scor's question, however, until Fred got to his feet. He was sitting next to James who looked whiter than Scor, which was never a good thing.

"What the _hell_ were you four playing at?"

"Us?" demanded Rose, incredulous. "You've got no idea what we've just done!" Scor and Al simultaneously stamped on her feet and Caly looked up at the high table.

"Professors I don't understand what's going on, when we went into the mirror is was the lunch time the day after Hardingly 'broke' in, now it's the end of term feast. How does that happen?" Professor McGonagall shook her head and Professor Longbottom spoke up.

"No one could get in. We stationed people outside for a month or two, kept an eye on things but after a while… we had to face the facts that you weren't coming back." Scorpius dropped his head into his hands.

"That's two years in a row now." he moaned. "Two years in a row people have thought I'm dead, what the hell?"

"Well Caly was right, again, we did 'nose dive' right back into calamity." Rose snorted slightly and Caly rolled her eyes.

"Hang on." said Rose suddenly. "Mum and Dad, Hugo… oh my god." she ran out of the room and there was an incredibly awkward pause as everyone in the hall stared at the three of them. Eventually Al reacted.

"Not again." he said as Caly ran after. "This time?" Scor nodded and they ran back out of the hall, much to the perplexity of the occupants. Eventually Molly got up and left which led to a mass of exodus of the Weasleys and remaining Potter.

"Well, um." said Professor McGonagall to the rest of the stunned hall. "I guess this calls for a change in decoration." she clapped her hands and the Hufflepuff colours appeared instead and slowly chatter began to fill the Hall again.

"Should we leave them?" she whispered to Neville.

"Yes." he said nodding. "And in the meantime I think we should contact their families."

* * *

><p>Rose was sitting behind a statue sobbing into her hands when Caly came running up behind her.<p>

"Rose."

"Piss off." Caly took a step back, looking positively alarmed.

"Okay, where did you learn bad language?"

"I'm not five!" she spat. "I spent months in that mirror all because you and Scor wouldn't fulfil your stupid pasts." Caly frowned not at the insult because of how Rose knew that it had been her past that they'd been in.

"How do you know that?"

"Because _nothing bad_ has ever happened to Al!" Al and Scor, followed by the rest of the family skidded to a halt nearby. Scor rolled his eyes.

"They're arguing _again_." Al sighed.

"You're not much better."

"Well you know what Rose," spat Caly jumping right back into the argument. "I'm getting pretty tired of you. All this year has been about is you, you, you! All you've done is moan and complain about getting left out. That stuff you told me is load of crap! You don't _care_ that people are keeping secrets _secretly_, you just care that they're keeping them _from you_!"

"My _family_ thought I was dead because of you!"

"Well nobody's keeping you here! If you don't like it _walk_!" Al and Scor looked at each other in shock.

'Woah,' mouthed Al and Scor nodded.

'Where's this coming from?' Al shrugged.

"Hey guys!" it was Fred, he stepped between the two of them. "Nobody is walking _anywhere_ but back to the Great Hall. We're family, we don't turn our backs on each other." he looked fiercely between the two of them and then at Scor and Al who stood, almost, shoulder to shoulder.

"I don't know what happened." said Molly, following Fred's lead. "But this is serious, guys. You need each other. You can't chuck each other away because they're causing you pain. Look at Scor." grey eyes lifted from the floor and stared at the Weasley's in shock and confusion. "He lost his mum because of his friendship and he's still here, Rose." Al leant out and put a hand on his shoulder, not saying a word. "You can't turn on each other, not after it all. Your mum, Rose, would be furious." Scor stepped forward and Al's hand fell away, swinging slightly with the momentum.

"Caly, stand back." Caly frowned, not understanding what he wanted. "This is my fault, and I'm going to be honest." he took a deep breath and looked at all the Weasleys. "With all of you." he swallowed and sat down. "When I was seven I had a friend called Rachel. She was a muggle and her house backed onto Sheridan's."

"Sheridan Bletchly?" Scorpius nodded at Fred.

"I was friends with all of them." he muttered. "One day we were out and She came out to talk to me and Sheridan. She didn't understand, how could she?" his eyes were filling with tears and he ran his left hand across his cheeks. "We were given a choice, Sheridan and I, Rachel or them. They wanted to kill us because we spilt the secret." he looked so ashamed of himself that no one had the heart to feel angry with him. "We went over to their side and together we killed her." the tears began to fall again and Al walked over and put a hand round his shoulder and Caly moved to touch his hand. "Monica - Vaisy - tried to rip her tongue out. Then Sheridan destroyed one of her eyes and I ripped the rest of her tongue out." he swallowed and seemed to retch. "Then we just left her, she died on the street, choking on her own blood." he buried his head in his hands and Al rubbed his back gently. Molly, Dom and Roxie had hands over their mouth, their eyes wide with horror. Fred looked like he'd been slapped and James looked sad.

"You killed someone?" demanded Fred.

"It was a mistake." he whispered. "I didn't want her to go."

"So why is Rose angry?"

"Because Scorpius told me and then he told Al and not Rose because, pretty much, all along Scorpius knew that Rose was his 'conscience', the person who spoke to him back then." there were looks of confusion and Caly waved it away.

"I'll explain later."

"I don't understand why you're angry Rose." said Molly, eventually. "I think it's all pretty irrational to be honest. I mean, I get it you didn't want your family upset, or hurt but.." she shrugged. "We're fine, so much better in fact now that you're back."

"None of us ever really believed you were dead." said Roxie. "It was like you were in the room and you were together we all knew that you'd make it."

"But time made people, other people, lose hope." Dom shrugged. "You parents never thought you were dead. Never."

"We couldn't." James spoke for the first time. "I mean, Merlin, you guys are _the _most infuriating people _ever_. The four of you just disappear into danger without telling anyone! I'm mean…what the hell? People say _I'm_ immature."

"That's because you are."

"Shut up Al." there was a silence after what James had said and Caly exchanged a look with Al. They probably should have told someone that they were going to go but at the same time if they did then they would try to stop them and then what would have happened?

"James, you may be angry that we didn't tell you that we were going to 'disappear into danger' but the fact is that most of this year, hell most of our lives probably, is being controlled by something else."

"I beg your pardon." James was looking at Caly as if she'd just started speaking a made up language and the others looked similarly confused.

"Look," said Caly, holding up her hands to stop anyone asking her questions. "When we fell through the mirrors we went back in time. Literally. When this happened we ended up creating a paradox, oh no wait you don't know what that is."

"It's something that contradicts itself." spouted out Dom immediately and Caly blinked for a second before remembering that she was a Ravenclaw.

"Yeah, anyway, what happened was that because we fell through the mirror Al and Rose were able to interact with our pasts, giving us something that we already had, if that makes sense." There was a pause before Molly shook her head.

"Nope, run that by me again."

"Okay so when we were in my memory Al had to give me this note that I've had since I was seven. The thing is, though, that Al only knew what to write because I had the note with me. It's the same with Scor's memory. Rose only knew what to say because Scor had already heard her say it." Fred was frowning at his little sister, both looking baffled. James had his head tilted ever so slightly to the side and he was squinting slightly as he tried to work it out.

"Okay, I think I get what you're saying." he finally said. "You're saying that all that happened this year lead to you going into the mirror because it had already happened."

"Precisely!" said Caly brightly and Rose gave all the rest of her family a weak smile.

"Wow, that's so weird," muttered Roxie, "to think that all of this was already written out."

"But it's not, though," Scor was looking back up and his eyes were dry and his throat hoarse. "That's why it was so hard when we went back in time. I could save Rachel but it would change the whole future. We couldn't interfere in the worst times of our lives. We had to suffer to get this. It kinda sucks, to be honest." All the Weasley's nodded, not entirely sure what to say to any of them.

"Well," said Fred eventually, "if Rosie's calmed down, I suggest we re-join the feast." The others nodded and Scor got to his feet, rubbing a hand across his face.

"Oh and Scor," said Molly, stopping suddenly in her tracks, "try not to hate yourself too much." The corner of Scor's mouth lifted upward at that. It was a tiny smile but it was genuine. Molly seemed to have noticed this as she turned away, satisfied, and began to horrify Al with what had happened in the Quidditch final.

* * *

><p>The rest of the feast passed quickly. Caly and the others were subjected to the full story of the Quidditch final by a subdued Fred, who explained that they had been absolutely slaughtered and that the game had only lasted 25 minutes before the snitch was caught. Gryffindor had, however, been the winners of the competition. Roxie told them that she and Dome had overheard Professor Longbottom talking to Professor Flitwick and that they were cancelling the game. It hadn't exactly turned out well this year. This meant that Gryffindor had finished third this year because Ravenclaw had ended up with a load of points for record breaking exam results. That had been the point when Rose nearly fainted into her pudding because it had finally hit her that they'd missed three months' worth of school and that they needed to have passed those exams to get into third year. Al, on the other hand, had roared with laughter and thrown a load of cream at James, landing it right on the middle of his face. James had then sent back a load of cake that exploded and coated his entire body in sticky toffee. Al couldn't move until Molly hurried over and melted him, Fred had been too busy roaring his head off with laughter along with most of Gryffindor. Even Rose had snorted over her plate at the sight of her frozen cousin and Scor had started choking which caused him to start crying with laughter, and his inability to breathe, whilst Caly held her stomach as she laughed at the strange look on Al's face as his eyes were crossed beneath his glasses and his moth was halfway open.<p>

* * *

><p>"And they're alright?" Harry Potter was standing in the middle of Professor McGonagall's office, his hands clutching the back of a chair in which Neville sat. Hagrid stood quietly in a corner and Professor Sprout and Slughorn occupied the other two seats. Professor Flitwick was standing on a hovering platform so that he was at eye level with everyone else. Harry would never tell anyone but he'd gotten the idea from Star Wars which he'd been watching at Dudley's house with his daughter and younger nieces and nephews.<p>

"Perfectly fine," said Minerva confidently. "Very high spirits, they caused a bit of a mess but I let it slide because, well, they've been missing for a long time." Harry nodded, internally smiling at the fact that Professor McGonagall had let something slide.

"The question is, how did this happen?" Professor Sprout nodded along to Finius' squeakily asked question.

"It does seem a bit extraordinary, doesn't it?" said Slughorn, his hands tucked inside the pockets of his unbuttoned waistcoat, Harry didn't know why he didn't just engorge it, and his brow glimmering with, what seemed to be, a constant sweat.

"Extraordinary yes, but if you're suggesting a coincidence, Horace, then I'll have to disagree with you. This is something to do with Hardingly, I know it." Harry nodded along to Neville's words.

"Neville's right, this isn't some freak accident. This has been carefully planned and engineered. Who's idea was it to hold the game in the first place?"

"That would be mine." said Flitwick, raising his hand a touch guiltily. "Some of my pupils came to me and suggested that we introduce my challenges to the rest of the school. I was unsure and then…" he furrowed his brown and Harry closed his eyes, having a very good idea of what was coming next, "and then I presented a full plan of the clues to Professor McGonagall and she thought it was a good idea." Harry shared a long, tired, look with Hagrid. Then he rolled his eyes and turned to McGonagall.

"It was Hardingly." she beat him to the punch line. "He modified our memories so that we didn't remember that he'd had anything to do with it." she let out an angry huff of air. "I am going to kill that man. If he lays a single toe inside of Hogwarts grounds I will blast him into oblivion." Nobody said anything after that statement until Hagrid spoke for the first time.

"But what's it all for? Why'd he do it?" Harry shrugged.

"Contingency plan? Maybe he just wanted them to suffer. To be honest I'm having a hard time fathoming his motives. He's completely insane which makes him completely unpredictable. With the exception of the signature we have nothing to go on." Harry sighed, looking down at the floor and running a hand through his hair.

"Are you alright?" demanded Hagrid and Harry looked back up to stare at him, his face taut.

"There's unrest at Azkabahn."he admitted. "The prisoners, the Death Eaters, are screaming murder in their sleep. They've been plotting my families, and yours Neville, deaths. I think they're after Luna's as well, anyone who was involved in the anti-Voldermort movement." Neville stared up at his friend, his eyes wide.

"How long has this been happening for?" Harry shrugged.

"Long while but it's getting worse. They're getting more and more angry." He swallowed. "They're after Scor now, too, and the Dursley's. I reckon the only person in my family that's safe is Caly. She's managed to fly under their radar which is lucky considering that she's muggle and could be top of their hit list. However Scor's got that position."

"What?" demanded McGonagall.

"The inmates want him dead the most. One of the Wardens, Miller, he says that one of them has planned out the best way to kill him, bit by bit." Professor Sprout let out a tiny sob at the idea and Slughorn patted her arm reassuringly.

"But they won't get out, will they Harry m'boy, they're the top security prisoners. They've got guards outside their cells day and night." Harry nodded.

"True Horace but still…" he shook his head. "It's unpleasant nonetheless." He sighed again and then straightened up. "Well I need to be off, need to be at the station."

"Yes and we need to make sure that they set off well." Harry shook everyone's hand and muttered 'see you in the holidays' to Neville. After he disappeared in the green flames Professor McGonagall looked up at the portrait of Professor Dumbledore, who had been watching the scene with avid eyes. He gave his successor a comforting smile whilst Snape just narrowed his eyes and sank against the frame in thought.

* * *

><p>"I'm surprised that Phineas is still alive." Said Caly as she passed the cage up to Al who was already in the carriage. "I thought he'd be dead in a week."<p>

"It seems that James decided to do something out of the goodness of his heart for a change." Caly snorted and climbed in, sitting down next to Rose who had her nose in a textbook. She had been fretting about the exams ever since they'd discovered that they'd be taking them in the holidays and had barely been book free. Scor looked like he was going to climb in after them when he noticed Hagrid helping to lift a huge trunk onto a carriage full of Slytherins.

"Scor where are you going?"

"I just need to talk to Hagrid." He shouted back to Rose. Scor came to a stop in front of Hagrid. "Professor?" he said politely. "May I speak to you for a second?"

"Of course." He said as he moved along to pick up the next chest.

"I would like to thank you for not judging me and I would like to write to you in the summer to tell you what happened." Hagrid beamed down at him.

"Of course." He replied.

"Oi, giant!" Sheridan Bletchly came out of the carriage. "Stop talking to scum and start loading my things up." Hagrid shook his head and moved the trunk over to the carriage.

"I'll have you know, Bletchly, that I am a teacher and I have the ability to put you in detention."

"Oh I'm so scared." He said mockingly.

"Hey Sheridan." Said Scorpius, walking up after Hagrid. "You know that 'voice' you heard that you didn't." Sheridan's face turned dark.

"Watch it Malfoy." Scorpius waved the threat away, with disdain.

"It was real and do you want to know what else. It was Rose Weasley." He grinned at the shocked look on his face and Scor practically skipped away in delight.

* * *

><p>"So what were your parents like?" they were sitting on the train and discussing what they'd seen in the mirror. Scor, apart from seeing that day in the street, had seen his mother. Rose had basically seen the opposite of Al. She'd been in the centre of a large crowd and everyone was talking to her. She wasn't Rose Weasley, she was just Rose. Caly shrugged.<p>

"They were…" she shrugged. "short." The compartment burst into laughter at that and Al leant his head against the window as his body shook with laughter.

"Well that's a given." snorted Scor. Caly rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't know, I was kinda busy screaming at them."

"Why?" asked Rose, tilting her head towards Caly as Caly stared into the floor of the compartment.

"Well," she said, fidgeting. "they kind of…I never really got over…" she sighed and dug into her pocket. "Here" she said, handing the piece of paper to Scor. Al got up and leant over to read the words.

_Dearest Caly,_

_Happy 1__st__ birthday! We hope that you're happy and safe and that you're enjoying yourself. We want you to know that we'll be back for you. We won't ever leave you on your own. Please know that we love you more than anything. _

_Love, _

_Mummy and Daddy._

"Caly." Said Rose, her eyes looked so sorry for her that Caly felt uncomfortable under their gaze. She swallowed, heavily.

"Yeah, so that's, that. I don't…" she blinked rapidly to dispel the tears that were beginning to form. Al brought the piece of paper back to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders. She swallowed again and kept her gaze diverted.

"You've got us." said Scor, quietly. "You've got us and we won't _ever_ do that to you." Caly looked up and smiled at Scor.

"Thanks. I just, sometimes I get a bit scared because they tell me that they love me but they left me and they lied." she scrunched up her face against the tears. "It's kind of hard to imagine myself ever loving someone, or enjoying my birthday."

"Don't worry about it," said Rose as Al reached up to tuck a loose stray of hair behind her ear. "Don't worry about it at all."

"Yeah, it's like Scor said, you've still got us!" she smiled, wider this time.

"Okay." Suddenly Al began to chuckle. All eyes turned to him and he shrugged.

"It's just you sounded so resigned to that, we're not that bad." Then, over nothing, they were all laughing and Caly began to relax about being back at Grimuald Place. She had them, she just needed to remember that.


	16. Author Note

This is for everyone who story alerted or has just reached the end, the 'Third Year' is up! I just posted the first chapter. I can't really say how regular my posting will be because I'm juggling quite a bit at the moment and I have some exams coming up but I have finished the next two chapters so there should be another update relatively soon. Oh and here's a long summary;

The Death Eaters are loose. The Minister has resigned. Fear is starting to grip the once stable wizarding world. The uncertainties and lack of results of the past year are beginning to bubble to the surface. The people are fickle and a new leader has risen in the crumbling society. In touch with the people Procurater is a dream come true but his past is non-existent. Caught in the cross fire Caly, Al, Rose and Scor are struggling to find their footing as they fight a war on three fronts. Meanwhile Lily, Hugo and Billy enter Hogwarts and quickly discover that not everything is as they hoped it would be whilst James attempts to find the balance between the role he's expected to play and the one he wants to fill. Caly and the others may have given up on having an ordinary year but they had hoped that they'd fallen as far as they could. However they're quick to learn that once you start falling it's a long way to the bottom.


End file.
